When All Else Has Been Forgetten
by MrsIanBale
Summary: When the souls in Mt. Gundabad rise again, ALL inhabitants rise. Where Thorin's company is 14 1 and there's hope for the Elvenking yet.
1. Awake

It was the year T.A. 2940.

A hooded little man, well, little against the humans of Bree, walked into the Prancing Pony evading the rain. He was big, for a dwarf; the sturdy, intimidating kind, the sword at his side helped with that image. This dwarf liked his solitude, against everything that might be said about the race of dwarves. He sat at his table, alone; eating his meal, alone. That was until he noticed the burning glares itching to join him. They were not the friendly kind he noticed, and reached for his weapon as the two men rose to confront him. Rather unexpectedly instead, a third man came along, surprising the dwarf and thwarting the other men. Except, this one was not a mere man, but a great wizard.

Gandalf the Grey.

And he introduced himself so.

"I know who you are." The dwarf grumbled, which didn't deter the wizard's happy mood.

"Well, now. This is a fine chance. What brings Thorin Oakenshield to Bree?"

Across the map of Middle Earth there lay a mountain. No, not the lonely one; this one belonged to the goblins. Down below the Misty Mountains and farther past goblin town, where their songs of the plentitude ways of death could barely be heard above whispers, were caves. Caves that all had thought to be abandoned; but abandoned they were not. For in them resided a creature, a hobbit in a past life. It was in these caves that he lived, feasting on fallen goblins and befriending his own reflection. His most favorite part of any day, far more than crushing skulls with rocks, was keeping his prized possession.

His _precious_.

Not for a second did Gollum, the creature, part with his thing. The **ring**. The shiny, gold, _precious_ ring. He wore it, or he kept it in his pocket. Never parting with it. It happened that this time, when Thorin Oakenshield sat in Bree, not far from the Hobbit shire, that the ring _awoke_.

See Gollum did not own the ring. He had found it, thousands of years later since it had dropped from existence, at the bottom of the lake.

No, the ring had only but one master. One master to rule them all. And when Thorin Oakenshield had set out on his quest, this master had found his moment to return.

But the ring was not the only thing that had awoken, no. The Dark One would need an army if he had any hopes to win the war to come, so he started to build it; raising his minions from the dead.

Among his legion were the mountains of Angmar, originally which had been dwarf land. It was guarded by the fort at Mount Gundabad, where an army of orcs and other creatures lay wasted. But when the Dark One's spirit arose, he raised them. Raised every soul that lay in Mount Gundabad. Most of them were orcs and berserkers and bats, and they all fled to find their master.

Most, does not mean all, as among them rose the soul of a she elf. Though overcome with disorientation, she dared not make a sound while the creatures still remained.

When surely all of them had left, the elleth spent the first hours of her rebirth crying. It couldn't be nature that brought her back. She was dead. Slowly, she regained enough strength to crawl out of the fortress. She rediscovered her skill to ride when she stumbled upon the horde of horses held captive in a dungeon. She climbed one before opening the gate, and the horses needed not any order to escape.

So, she knew all that her parents had taught her: how to talk, how to walk and all. Yet she did not know her own name. Though just below her need for survival echoed only but two words, or part of them.

"...las. ...uil."

And this was all she muttered when her horse galloped into a land of men. The horse reared, afraid in the mass of people and ran off, dropping off the girl as it went.

The townfolk surrounded her, and the wiseman of the town lowered to check her vitals. He heard her mutter words with her every breath, her every heartbeat. One for the 'las', the other for the 'uil'.

"She lives!" He declared and had her taken to his home.

At his home, Thorin Oakenshield dragged his nephews in from the rain. The brothers, Fili and Kili, were upset about being stopped from their usual mischief and quarrel, but their uncle's story about his day entertained them. Without a mother or a father, Thorin was all they had, and he, them. Without a land to call home, Thorin took them wherever he could find work and lodge. It was a very uncomfortable life for princes.

In their stead, luxury was afforded to a rather unsuspecting, carefree, _normal_ little hobbit that lived in a hole. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell; nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat.

It was a hobbit hole.

It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, furnished with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats—the hobbit was fond of visitors. The _expected_ ones, of course.

Now you're met with all the races spread over middle earth; the good, the bad. The dwarves the wizards the ogres the orcs the elves the humans. And of course, the hobbit.

This is their story retold.


	2. An Unexpected Journey

2941

A whole year had passed since the night Thorin Oakenshield met Gandalf the Grey in Bree, outside of Hobbiton past the river and over the hill. The dwarf prince had collected a company of 12 others, 2 of them his own nephews. Then there was Dwalin, and his brother Balin, the wise. Ori, Nori, Dori; Bifur, Bofur, Oin, Glóin, and Bombur. After a long exile and rumors of the dragon's inactivity, they were ready to take back their home. All they needed, was the king's jewel. And a _burglar_ to steal it from the dragon's keep.

Across middle earth was a town of men, mostly made of well, men. Mostly though, because among them, was an elf. Ellith to be precise, but no one could know that. Interspecies relations weren't always the best. Since the year she had joined them, she was made to become more like them. Her height was of no matter, for they were both children of Ilúvatar. There was but the matter of her hair and her ears. The hair her adopted father dyed black, but her ears could not be done much with, except setting her hair around them.

Ellie, he named her, for the simple reason that she was, well, an elf. And the poor girl had no recollection of her name. When she had awoken in Frederick's home, she remembered not the way she had got there, nor did she remember what she had said. Her father, the wiseman of the town, remembered of course. But he chose not to tell her, should her memory of whatever they were drive her mad. So instead, he adopted the unfortunate girl into his family, and that was how they lived for the year.

Father daughter as they were, they had two complete different dispositions. While Fred was calm and well qualified to be named the wiseman of Arendale, Ellie was brash and adventurous, always dying to go out into the world. And for the past year, this was what she prepared for. Everyday when she could, she'd pick a fight with the local guardsmen, easily winning against them. The town lord always complained about it, but Fred always managed to dissuade him.

That was until one day the elves of Mirkwood arrived.

While the elf lords made business with the lord of Arendale, Ellie picked a fight with the elf guard. Though the elf guard of Mirkwood were known famously for their adept skill in battle, the wiseman's daughter won against him. The Manor guards rushed to inform the lords of what was happening outside, while the townsmen went to fetch Frederick.

" _What_ is the meaning of this?! Is this how you treat your guests?!" The elderly emissary elf spoke as his guard lay exhausted. Nicholas, the lord of Arendale, stammered to find an excuse.

"Pay no mind to her, my lord! She is not of us. She speaks not for us." Nicholas glared at Fred. "I assure you, your partnership is very welcome in Arendale. _Do_ extend my agreement to your king Thranduil."

Frederick cursed in his mind upon hearing the name of the Elvenking as Ellie came sliding to the front, her hair flying over her face.

"You, girl!" Nicholas pointed a pudgy finger at her, "Today you have stepped beyond your boundaries, and do not think it will go spared! You have disgraced us in front of the missionary to Thranduil himself!"

Again his name was spoken, and again Ellie's heart yearned for something which she yet did not know.

"Apologize at _once!"_

Ellie stammered to the front, fixing her hair, and the lord from Mirkwood -Fenrir- could not believe what his eyes let in.

Surely his mind was deceiving him...

...for the queen of Mirkwood had long ago died. She who had passed her traits to her son, hair whiter than the whitest snow and eyes as blue as the sky. This girl before him headed a mane of blackness, black as the darkest night without a moon or a star to be seen. No, this could not be her.

Yet when she bowed in apology, he did not find himself worthy of it.

"S...spare her. In my honor." Fenrir stammered, not wishing to see the girl any more, let alone kneeling to him. "It was only but a game. There's not many who can bring down the guardsmen of my lord Thranduil."

The lord intentionally took his King's name, but saw no fire in the girl's eyes. He also did not see the pain that crushed around her heart.

"It's time we took our leave. Goodbye." He lead the guard back to Mirkwood. No doubt they would relay their experience to the king, as their injuries could not be hidden. But he dare not take the name of the queen, and these young guards would not know of her as no one had seen a portrait of her since...

The elves were farewelled with happy waves and smiles, yet as soon as they were out of sight, passions returned.

"FredERICK!" Nicholas bellowed and the wiseman cowered. He could not win today.

Fred turned to his daughter and begged her to return.

"Go home. Go home now! And take not one step out till I return."

That was fine enough with her. Arendale's strongest warrior needed the comfort of her room to break down.

Her father meanwhile, steeled himself for the confrontation. He followed the lord into his Manor and behind them the doors loudly shut. Nicholas led them to his office, where he poured himself a drink. He needed it to clear his mind of the headache that was Ellie.

He began with a sigh.

" _What_ is this girl? What do you know of her past? She is a stranger! Yet you protect her like kin."

"She is alone. She knows not where she belongs. She's vulnerable."

"VULNERABLE?!" he yelled with drag of his hand across the table, not caring for what lay on it. His anger worsened to a calm hush. "No, _vulnerable_ is what _we_ will be if and when the Elvenking decides to punish us. She's left me no choice, Frederick."

"No, you cannot! She's innocent! It was but a game."

"Her _game_ may just have cost us our lives. She _will_ be punished."

" _No_ father!"

The men turned to find Nicholas' son, Nicklaus, enter.

"We do not harm one of our own." To anyone, it may seem like Nicklaus was being the voice of reason, but Fred knew better.

And then the heir of Arendale spoke further. "Especially not members of the royal family."

There it was.

Ellie was known in Arendale, after her mischief, for her beauty. There wasn't a man in town who wanted her, nor a woman who didn't envy her. In contrast to her was Nicklaus, renowned for his ugly character and abusiveness of his title.

Nicklaus glared at his father, pressing him to propose a deal with Fred.

"Ah, yes. With Ellie as my son's wife, Mirkwood cannot punish her without declaring war. What say you, Frederick? Spares our town and your neck."

"It is not my decision to make." The wiseman spoke to the floor.

"Well I suggest you train her to say yes, for your 'no' will be taken as an act of treason." Nicholas turned and sat cooly on his high seat. "See to it that it gets done tonight, then."

Thrown out of the Manor, Frederick sulked home. Surely Ellie would not say yes, and he would not encourage her for it. By now perhaps the name of the Elvenking had solidified in her mind to run out into the world. He would not stop her this time. Before entering his home, then, the wiseman made sure that his horse would be ready for travel.

He found her in her room, pacing back and forth. He knew not what ran in her mind, but knew that she could not be contained anymore.

"I would not stay with you a night further, da." Ellie spoke, preparing her go bag without looking at him. "You cannot stop me. The elves will retaliate, and they should not find me here. It would spare Arendale the wrath of the elf guard."

"You're right. I will not stop you tonight, my dear."

Ellie stopped, not expecting encouragement.

"Today was your calling." The old man stepped forward to his daughter, presenting her with a gift. "I wish you find your peace out there."

Ellie unwrapped the cloth given to her to find a sword of elvish make.

"It's beautiful." She whispered in awe, running her hand over the blade.

"It was gifted to an ancestor of mine by the elves of Rivendell."

"Then I cannot take this." Ellie refused, offering the sword back.

"You must!" Fred pressed the sword into her hand. "A wiseman as myself has no need for weapons. The world outside I fear will not provide you a safe path on a platter. You might find yourself to have need for it."

Ellie let go of her sword to hug her adoptive father.

"I will never forget your kindness." She pulled away to look at him, cupping his face. "My life is owed to you. Should I make it to my destination, I will be sure to come back for you."

"We're wasting time with sentiment. You must go, now!"

"Now?! I'm not ready yet!"

"Oh but my dear, you've been ready since you awoke. Go from the back door, Azula waits for you."

He lead his daughter to the back door, where the horse Azula waited. Ellie needed not further push, and hopped onto the mare, one last look at the only father she remembered. Grabbing the reigns and setting her sight, Ellie whipped the horse and ran out, leaving behind a puff of smoke.

The smoke billowed up into the clear blue sky, forming a pretty ring before it dispersed in the air. It was a _good_ morning that day; the sun was shining, and the grass was very green. He blew another ring, and this time it fell onto the pointy top of the big grey hat.

"Very pretty!" The passerby mused.

"Oh, good Morning!" said Bilbo Baggins to the man that stood past his gate, and he meant it.

But the visitor did nothing more than look at him from under long bushy eyebrows that stuck out further than the brim of his shady hat.

"What do you mean?" he said. "Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?"

"All of them at once, I suppose" said Bilbo, our dear, unsuspecting, _normal_ little hobbit. "And a very fine morning for a pipe of tobacco out of doors, into the bargain. If you have a pipe about you, sit down and have a fill of mine! There's no hurry, we have all the day before us!"

"Time is what I have not much of, Bilbo Baggins. I have no time to blow smoke-rings this morning."

The hobbit started to feel uncomfortable as the man before stood leaning on his stick and gazing at him without saying anything.

"C...can I help you with something?" he said at last.

"That remains to be seen. I'm looking for someone...

...to share in an adventure!"


	3. Paths Unwinding

Up jumped Bilbo, stepping into the beginning of his destiny. The little, hair footed hobbit put on his dressing gown and went into the dining room. There he saw nobody, but all the signs of a large and hurried breakfast. There was a fearful mess in the room, and the washing-up was so dismally real that Bilbo was forced to believe that the rather unexpected party of the night before had indeed, occurred. Indeed he was really relieved after all to think that they had all gone without him, and without bothering to wake him up; and yet in a way he could not help feeling just a trifle disappointed.

The feeling surprised him.

"Don't be a fool, Bilbo Baggins!" he said to himself, "thinking of dragons and all that outlandish nonsense at your age!"

So the hobbit shook his thoughts clear of any mountains and treasures and basked in the comfort of his hole. He put on an apron, lit fires, boiled water, and washed up. Then he had a nice little breakfast in the kitchen before turning out the dining room. By that time the sun was shining and the front door was open, letting in a warm spring breeze. Bilbo began to whistle loudly and almost forget about the night before... till he watched as the contract spilled over the mantle and played a dangerous dance with the fire.

It wasn't long after that that Bilbo Baggins ran out his front door, overhill and underhill and across the river, not stopping till he met up with the company that had crashed his home for dinner yesternight.

Down jumped Ellie, off her midnight horse as she sought a place to settle for the day. She'd no map for her journey, no destination, no mountain to claim, or reclaim for that matter. She'd no rest either; the night wasn't a safe haven outside of Arendale. She would dare not stop in the forest at night; evil things lurked there. She'd heard the roar of orcs, which made in her mind haunting visions of fire and death. She could've sworn she understood their language, but that was not something to proclaim out loud she knew.

Now in the safety of the daylight, Ellie dare stop for a long minute, feasting on her bread and fruit. Azula lay down next to her, and with a heavy heart Ellie lay on the beast, despaired by the death of the forest she laid in. As an elf, she was bound to nature. Fate allowed her no more than an hour long of shut eye before her elven ears were awoken by the skitters and patters. Spiders, she acknowledged as she sat up. But loud enough to wake her, that was odd. There was a rumbling in the ground; the trees felt it, and the land felt it. Ellie felt it. She quickly swung on her nervous horse and galloped Azula out from under the canopy of the dead trees and into the open. Just in time, too, as the log where she had sat not minutes ago was crushed under spiders. Usually she would have said the fallen tree was swarming, or overcome, but these creatures were almost the size of Azula!

Ellie ran her horse along the forest, in the direction the spiders went. There wasn't much in the near sight, but far off she spotted a cottage, farmer and his family and stock. She hit the horse's behind, making her neigh and run ahead of the spiders to warn the farmer. And if giant spiders aren't a trifle for you, then go ahead and add in a deluge why don't you.

Not for the first time or the last, Bilbo Baggins missed his hole. And to think, a handkerchief was what he regretted leaving home with. He could trade his silver spoons to Lobelia Sackville-Baggins for an umbrella right about now.

"Mr. Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge?" Piped a dwarf; he was tinier than the rest, but no less determined and courageous.

"It is raining, Master Dwarf, and it will continue to rain until the rain is done. If you wish to change the weather of the world, you should find yourself another Wizard."

"Are there any?" Bilbo asked as he came up next to the wizard.

"What?"

"Other Wizards." Bilbo clarified.

"There are five of us. The greatest of our order is Saruman the White. Then there are the two Blue Wizards...Do you know, I've quite forgotten their names."

"And who is the fifth?"

"Well, that would be Radagast the Brown."

"Is he a great Wizard... Or is he more like you?" Bilbo teased and Gandalf glared at him, not amused.

"I think he's a very great Wizard, in his own way. He's a gentle soul who prefers

the company of animals to others. He keeps a watchful eye over the vast forest lands... to the east. And a good thing too. For always evil will look to find a foothold in this world. Not good. Not good at all."

And a quirky fellow he was, Radagast the Brown. He was eccentric, and not very much like how the Istari should be. Saruman the white frowned upon his naive act and self appointed exile from people. He lived in a tree hole, and on him lived a pair of birds. Radagast loved conversing with the animals; they were his eyes and ears to the world. And they were how he discovered activity at the old fortress.

The rain had dispelled by the time the 14 came upon the barn. It was battered and broken and abandoned, and so were they. And this was where Thorin decided they should stay, against the advice of Gandalf.

"We have a map that we cannot read. Lord Elrond could help us."

"Help? A dragon attacks Erebor. What help came from the Elves? Orcs plunder Moria... desecrate our sacred halls. The Elves looked on and did nothing. And you ask me to seek out the very people who betrayed my grandfather. Who betrayed my father.

"You are neither of them. I did not give you that map and key for you to hold onto the past." Gandalf implored.

"I did not know that they were yours to keep."

That just about did it. This wizard was quite done with dwarves for the moment. Let it be their funeral.

And they did find themselves at the edge of death without him. Fili and Kili had found trolls, and poor Bilbo, not knowing the difference between a barn owl from a brown, was their unfortunate look out guy.

They found him, of course, the trolls did, blowing out of William's nose. He'd almost been rescued by Kili and the rest, and he'd managed to free the horses as well, but they'd got him again, and used him as bargain chip.

Nearby, Ellie trotted around the woods, looking for any other soul that might get in the way of the spiders. She'd sent the farmer and his wife off on their wagons and horses, saving as many pairs of animals they could. She'd yet to come up on anyone else, that was till an angry grey man stormed past.

"Oyi, you there sir. I would not advise you to go further. Bad things lurk around these parts." Ellie warned as she hopped off Azula

"Thank goodness for someone with a mind." The old man blessed the heavens and walked up to her. "And who might you be?"

"A good question I've asked myself a good number of times. But the name's Ellie."

The man eyed her weird, but let go whatever was in his mind and introduced himself.

"Gandalf the Grey, at your service."

"And what's got you in a bunch, storming up in here?"

"Dwarves. Or their king, at least. Stubborn fellow, he is. Not listen to a word of warning."

"Like children. You can't protect them from everything. Let them learn."

"What I just might do, thank you."

"So how about you? There's something unnatural I sense."

Ellie frowned, and her faithful horse nudged at her. She stopped and stroked Azula's nuzzle as a thank you.

"You wouldn't be wrong. I think I've been granted a second life, but by whom or what purpose I am not aware."

"That would be terribly concerning," Gandalf mused.

"I cannot find rest. Sleep evades me. I hear them. I see the fire in my nightmares. It terrifying."

Before Gandalf could get a word in, a horde of ponies ran between them.

"I thought you said there were dwarves!"

"There are! I fear they might've walked into trouble."

"Trolls!" Ellie confirmed, hearing them talk in her elven ears as she climbed her horse.

"I fear your rescue will not be so welcomed as you look how you are."

"'Look how I am'? Well I'm afraid I can't do much about that!"

"Perhaps I can be of assistance." Gandalf spoke and offered her a necklace. It was simple, with a dream catcher pendant.

"Thank you." Ellie said as she took it, and the moment it passed her neck, her ears lost their elven form, and her soul found some burning peace.

"Now, you may go rescue them. I'll join you once I've gathered the ponies."

Ellie nodded and galloped off toward the trolls. She came upon them when the halfling was convincing the trolls that the dwarves had parasites. A fun thought traveled her mind and she stabbed her elf sword into the nearest troll, who squealed in pain.

"Ouch! Something stung me!" He cried as Ellie made her way to the next one, doing the same to him.

"Ohoh! It's got me too, Bert!" The other whined as he dropped the dwarf he was about to eat.

"Pesky parasites, I tell you." The hobbit confirmed as the trolls kept hurting from stings.

As the trolls were busy cleaning each other of the parasites, Ellie took the chance to walk up to the fire, trying to put it out before she got the dwarves down.

"Oy, who's it?!" Cried the youngest troll she assumed as he saw her.

Ellie stood up stock still, and sheepishly waved at them.

"I don't know. Can we eat it too?"

"We can try." The one they called Bert sauntered his way hungrily to her.

"The dawn take you all, and be stone to you!" said a voice that was angry and loud.

They turned to the new voice and they all saw Gandalf split the boulder with his staff. For just at that moment the light came over the hill, and as the rays of the sun landed on them, the three trolls turned to stone. For as you probably know, trolls must be underground before dawn, or they go back to the stuff of the mountains they are made of, and never move again. That is what had happened to Bert and Tom and William.

Gandalf smiled upon them as he came down from the rock, and Ellie got a startle as she turned and found herself face to face...

...with the hobbit.


	4. A short rest

The next thing was to untie the sacks and let out the dwarves. They were nearly suffocated, and very annoyed: they had not at all enjoyed lying there listening to the trolls making plans for roasting them and squashing them and mincing them and especially turning them into jelly.

"And where did you go, if I may ask?" Thorin confronted Gandalf right out of the sack.

"To look ahead." Gandalf answered nonchalantly.

"What brought you back?" Thorn asked as he followed the wizard's sight.

"Looking behind." Thorin didn't need to be asked to read between the lines. "Nasty business. Still, they're all in one piece."

"No thanks to your burglar." Thorin glowered; even after he'd saved their skins, Thorin still hadn't warmed up to Bilbo.

"He had the nous to play for time. None of the rest of you thought of that."

"If you've never burgled before, I don't suppose trolls should've been your first target to go practicing pinching and pocket-picking," remarked Ellie as Bilbo explained how the whole ordeal began.

Great, MORE people, thought Thorin as he finally took a good look at the person who'd joined them. She was just about their height, if not slightly taller. But she had long black hair, and no pointy ears. Curious.

"Who did you say you were again, lassie?" Balin was the first to ask.

"I didn't yet. The name's Ellie, at your service." The girl extended a hand to the old dwarf, but a young one grabbed it instead.

"Fili, at yours." Thorin's heir made quite the show to be a gentleman and swooped to kiss the back of her hand.

His little brother rolled his eyes while the others, save for the mature ones, made comments.

"Your name does not explain your purpose." Thorin subtly shoved Fili aside.

"I don't have one. Not that I know of yet, at least. I'm on a journey of discovery. If it's fine by you, I'd like to tag along. There's safety in numbers out here."

Thorin was in no interest to add to his headache. Each member of his company was his responsibility, especially his sister's sons. He didn't need to take on more, especially not a woman.

"I can fend for myself fine, if you're worried. And I'd be happy to lend a hand."

Gandalf had enough and tapped his staff to break the tension, gaining everyone's attention.

"You are wasting time now. Don't you realize that the trolls must have a cave or a hole dug somewhere near to hide from the sun in? We must look into it!" He lead the march on himself.

They searched about, and soon found the marks of trolls' stony boots going away through the trees. They followed the tracks up the hill, until hidden by bushes they came on a big opening leading down to a cave. Down the steps lead Thorin, followed one after one by the others. Fili offered Ellie assistance getting down, and behind her the brothers quarreled, Kili calling his brother out. Behind them, the wizard simply smirked at their antics.

Their feet crunched on bones and a nasty smell stabbed into their nostrils; but there was a good deal of food jumbled carelessly on shelves and on the ground, and pots full of gold coins standing in a corner.

"Oh lookie, clothes!" Chippered Ori as he took a shirt that had been hanging on the walls.

"Clothes in a troll cave?" Bilbo wondered. "What troll fit into that?"

"They appear to be too small for trolls; I am afraid they belonged to victims." Gandalf cleared.

Ori quickly threw away the cloth in his hands.

"Since when do Mountain Trolls venture this far south?" Thorin asked, perhaps to Gandalf, as he looked through the piles himself.

"Ooh. Not for an age. Not since a darker power ruled these lands. They could not have moved in daylight."

There were also among them several swords of various makes, shapes, and sizes.

Two swords caught their eyes particularly, because of their beautiful scabbards and jeweled hilts. Thorin and Gandalf took one each.

"These look like good blades," said Thorin, half drawing his and looking at it curiously.

Behind him, Ellie watched the silver blade slide out of its sheath. It almost sung to her.

"These swords were not made by any Troll. Nor were they made by any smith among Men. These must've been forged by the High Elves of the First Age." Ellie was in a daze as the words escaped her mouth, only startled by Gandalf.

"You could not wish for a finer blade," the wizard agreed.

"Whence did the trolls get them, I wonder?" said Thorin looking at his sword with new interest.

"I could not say," said Gandalf, "but one may guess that these trolls had plundered other plunderers, or come on the remnants of old robberies in some hold in the mountains. I have heard that there are still forgotten treasures of old to be found in the deserted caverns of the mines of Moria, since the dwarf and goblin war."

Gandalf left them with a smile, looking about the plunder with interest. He came upon a dagger, a letter opener honestly; and he found it to be just the right size for their burglar.

"Ellie?"

Ellie looked to the direction her name had come from, and smirked to unsurprisingly find Fili addressing her.

"Here. This is for you." Without the worry of an ask, the dwarf prince leaned over and wrapped a warm cape around her shoulder, clasping the lock over her chest.

"What's this?" Ellie asked stupidly as she she drew a finger over its furred lining.

"A riding cape. Don't worry, I found it in a chest. It's clean."

"How thoughtful of you. Are you sure you wouldn't rather save it for your future bride?"

"I don't know who that might be, but this one cape is a complement to your sapphire eyes. It's only meant for you."

"Can we please get out of this horrible smell?!" Begged Kili, rudely interrupting their moment.

So they carried out the pots of coins, and such food as was untouched and looked fit to eat. By that time they felt like breakfast, and being very hungry, they did not turn their noses up at what they had got from the trolls' hoard. Their own provisions were running very thin, but now they had bread and cheese, and plenty of ale, and bacon to toast in the embers of the fire.

While Dwalin and Balin and Gloin's brothers started on the cooking, Fili, Kili, Nori, Bofur and Gloin set about digging holes and burying their loot.

"All right, come on. Quick. We're making a long-term deposit."

They stuffed up on breakfast and all decided that a quick nap would be the only thing better. So they put down their duffels and rested along tree barks or fallen logs or one dwarf against the other. Some slept, others whittled, while yet others made maps to their hidden treasures. X marked the spot.

"Bilbo?" Gandalf called as he walked over to where the burglar sat alone. "Here. This is about your size." He offered the wrapped blade to the shocked hobbit.

"I... I can't take this." Bilbo stuttered to refuse.

"The blade is of Elvish make." The wizard enforced, "Which means it will glow blue when Orcs or Goblins are nearby." Gandalf offered a very good reason to have an elvish sword handy.

"I have never used a sword in my life."

"And I hope you never have to. But if you do, remember this: True courage is about knowing not when to take a life, but when to spare one."


	5. Elves

They were sleeping now, most of them. But even with the dream catcher on, Ellie couldn't sleep. Not for a lack of peace, though. She lay wrapped in the cloak that Fili had given her, fingering and awing over its complexities and simplicities. She pitied the handsome dwarf; he yearned for her while her heart was promised to another, though to whom she did not know. With a warm smile she looked to her sleeping admirer, watching as he let his younger brother sleep on him. Kili, his name was. They'd all been glad to exchange introductions back at breakfast. Their king though, did not appreciate her presence.

She was happy to discover that she was not the sole recipient of his distaste.

Though what she wasn't fond of, was the sound of someone or something traveling towards them quickly and intently. Her elven ears may have lost their form, but they did not loose their traits.

"Something's coming!" She yelled, alerting the dwarves closest to her.

Thorin snapped up.

"Gandalf!" He called for the wizard as the rest stood to attention.

"Stay together! Hurry now!" Gandalf ordered as he joined them in formation, "Arm yourselves!"

The company stood back to back in a circle, drawing swords at the ready. Even little Bilbo Baggins had drawn his blade.

It were the rabbits they saw first. Bunnies as big as dogs and quick as foxes. Then came the wooden sled, bringing along their master

"Thieves! Fire! Murdeeerr!" The loon yelled as he plowed through the formation and came to a halt. They were all equally breathless as he as he looked about him at the company. The dwarves all still had their weapons withdrawn as they looked to Gandalf for an explanation of this odd sight.

"Radagast!" Gandalf merrily acknowledged. "It's Radagast the Brown."

"Well..." The grey wizard mumbled as he made over to the brown one. "What on earth are you doing here?" He asked in a tone contrary to his earlier one.

"I was looking for you, Gandalf." Radagast began. "Somethings wrong. Somethings terribly wrong." The man stood ready to speak, but stopped.

"Yes?" Gandalf drawled.

"Oh." Radagast perked, but the thought left him again as quick as it had come.

"Just give me a minute."

"Oh. I had a thought and now I've lost it. It was right there on the tip of my tongue." The wizard's speech turned into lisp as he talked, and his thought seemed to take a very literal form.

"Oh. It's not a thought at all. It's a silly old..." Gandalf reached for the creature poking out his friend's mouth.

"...stick insect!" Radagast chippered as Gandalf let the thing fall into his hand.

"The Greenwood is sick, Gandalf." His hush voice was heard by Ellie, who became very invested in their conversation. "A darkness has fallen over it. Nothing grows anymore. At least, nothing good."

It saddened Ellie to hear so. She couldn't bare the thought of something terrible happening to... her home.

"The air is foul with decay." Radagast continued, "But worse are the webs."

"Webs?" Gandalf asked in shock. "What do you mean?"

"I think he means the spiders, Gandalf. Giant ones, almost as big as the ponies. That's what I'd meant to stop you from when we first met." Ellie answered, catching everyone's attention.

"Some kind of spawn of Ungoliant, or I am not a Wizard." Radagast nodded at her in agreement. "I followed their trail. They came from Dol Guldur."

"Huh? Dol Guldur? But the old fortress is abandoned!" Gandalf snorted in disbelief.

"No, Gandalf. 'Tis not."

It was an old stone bridge, ridden with cracks and dead vines, that lead to the dark and ruined fortress. It's stony towers loomed like warnings in the grey darkness of the overcast sky.

"A dark power dwells in there, such as I have never felt before. It is the shadow of an ancient horror. One that can summon the spirits of the dead."

The fortress indeed appeared dead, broken and drained of all life, guarded by branchy trees and overgrown vines, and hollow stone statues of warriors and kings of old.

"I saw him, Gandalf, from out of the dark. A Necromancer has come!" As Radagast spoke lost in a trance, Ellie's eyelids shuttered, playing scenes of utmost horror, of fire and death, and darkness. And the eye.

Radagast's daze was broken when Gandalf offered him a puff of his pipe, but Ellie was only moved by the howls.

"Was that a wolf?" Bilbo looked around him like an owl. "Are there wolves out there?"

"Wolves?" Fili asked stupendously, "No, that is not a wolf."

"Kili! Get your bow!" Thorin barked and his nephew was quick to oblige.

Not a second passed before a creature leapt at the dwarf king, only to be slain by arrows and swords.

"Warg scouts." Thorin said as he pulled out his sword from the beast. "Which means an Orc pack is not far behind."

All this was incredibly new to our hobbit from the shire. "Orc pack?"

"Who did you tell about your quest, beyond your kin?" Gandalf was upon Thorin like a maddened mother.

"No one."

"Who did you tell?" The wizard yelled again, unsatisfied.

"No one, I swear! What in Durin's name is going on?" For once, the king dwarf did not know.

"You, are being hunted."

"We have to get out of here." Spoke Dwalin, the warrior.

"We can't. We have no ponies!" Gloin responded from the hill, having watched the animals run in fright. "They bolted."

"I'll draw them off." Radagast the Brown offered.

"These are Gundabad Wargs! They will outrun you." Gandalf told his challenged friend, but Radagast paid no mind.

A wide, toothy grin split across the wizard's face as the howling of wargs echoed across the forest.

"These are Rhosgobel rabbits. I'd like to see them try!"

Beyond the forest and in the open fields, warg scouts search the outskirts of the woods, led by their commander. Everything was deathly silent- that was, until Radagast shot out of the trees, mounted on his rabbit-led sleigh.

"Come and get me!" The crazed wizard taunted as if he were merely dealing with foxes. The orc commander lead his riders after Radagast, barking commands in their black speech.

Further along the field, as Radagast lead the enemy away, Gandalf watched from behind a large boulder.

"Come on!" Gandalf motioned as he ran ahead, the Company trailing behind him. Together, the 14 of them dart across the rocky plain, weapons drawn, with Radagast and the orcs going the other way. The Company continued to weave in and out of the rocks, led by Thorin and Gandalf. Suddenly, Thorin stopped in his tracks just as Radagast and the orcs ran in front of, too close for comfort. Gandalf looked worriedly to Bilbo and the dwarves.

"Stay together." He warned as he turned the other way, leading the dwarves back into the barren fields. The dwarves stopped behind another boulder. Nori, all out of breath and disoriented, continued to run forward, only to be pulled back by Thorin in time.

Gandalf kept his eye on Radagast, waiting for the right moment. Finally satisfied, Gandalf beckoned the dwarves to run ahead of him. Thorin stayed behind with Gandalf, watching the others run past.

"Where are you leading us?" Thorin asked, suspicious of what Gandalf might be doing.

The wizard merely responded with a cheeky smirk and joined the others, leaving behind an agitated Thorin to catch up.

As the orc pack ran after the rabbits, one of them stopped and smelled the air just as the company hid behind another large boulder. The orc, mounted on top of a warg, climbed the very same boulder, getting another whiff of the dwarves, and something else entirely.

Just below, the dwarves remained silent, hiding just below the orc. Thorin slowly turned to Kili and nodded, a nonverbal communication between uncle and nephew. Kíli prepared himself for what he was about to do; his childhood had readied him for this moment. He loaded his bow and quickly stepped out of the protection of the rock, getting the orc's attention. But as quickly as the monster lurched, Ellie shot it straight in the head, bringing in tumbling down where the others hacked it to death. The orc and the warg's screeches alerted the other orcs, and Kili had no time to glower at the maiden who had bested him.

The orcs blew their horn and Gandalf knew they were caught. "Move. Ruuuun!!"

And they ran.

Out into the field. There seemed to be few trees and no valleys and no hills to break the ground in front of them, only one vast dead grass, with patches and slashes of grass-green and moss-green showing where water might be. Gandalf lead the Company forward, sprinting past rocks, boulders, bushes and the like. The orcs were right on their tail, yet the dwarves continued to flee from the scouts, until one pack emerged from the crest of the hill. Other orcs filed beside their commander, while still more came from behind, circling around the Company.

"They're coming!" Fili shouts.

"Kili, shoot them! Shoot them down!" And the bowdwarf is more than happy to oblige.

Unknown to the rest, Gandalf had found the entrance to an underground cavern. Quickly he ran to it, still unknown to the company as they readied for a fight.

"This way, you fools!" Gandalf bobbed his head up to call at them.

Thorin was the first to notice and ushered the rest to follow Gandalf. The others needed no telling twice and ran to the outcrop, sliding into the cavern one after the other. Thorin stood guard behind them, slaying any orc that came close. 12 of the 14 were underground, save for Thorin, and Kili, who was still out in the field proving his worth.

"Kili!!!" His uncle bade him and the nephew finally gave in and ran to the join the rest.

A horn blew just as Thorin slid in at last, leading a stampede. It sounded like a war up above, roars and neighs and howls and thumps. The company, from the entrance of the cave above them, saw flashes of riding beasts whizzing by. While the others caught a breath, Fili explored the cavern, finding an exit. Before he got to point it out, the orcs roared in defeat as one of them rolled down into the cave, dead with an arrow stuck in his chest. A furious Thorin yanked out the arrow and examined it, even more enraged by its quality.

"Elves." Thorin said in disgust as he dropped it.

Fili finally emerged from the crack in the cave wall.

"I cannot see where the pathway leads. Do we follow it or no?"

Ellie was thrilled by Fili's discovered and skipped towards the exit.

"Follow it, of course!" She placed a firm kiss on his cheek and led the way. Behind her, Fili winked to the rest as he dashed after her. Kili groaned for the millionth time since crossing paths with Ellie and the dwarves shuffled forward.

Thorin looked to Gandalf.

"I think that would be wise." The Grey wizard nodded toward the exit.

And that was all the king dwarf needed to hear as he ran behind the rest.

Bilbo chose not to leave the wizard's side after the ordeal they had just been through, and suspiciously looked at his walking buddy as Gandalf cunningly grinned to himself.


	6. Rivendell

Ella lead the dwarves through the narrow gap in the cavern while behind her the Company groaned as they pushed and squeezed through the twisting cliffs, each step becoming more and more strenuous. The walls started to get wetter as they progressed, adding to their distaste.

"Gandalf, where are we going?" The hobbit asked the wizardry, hoping this gruesome march would yield a reward as the hairs on his feet started to tingle in uneasy anticipation.

"You can feel it?" The wizard asked, looking oddly happy.

"Yes. It feels like - well, like magic."

"That's _exactly_ what it is. A very powerful magic."

"There is light ahead!"

They turned to Ella's voice, seeing her run off farther ahead. The dwarves, eager to see what she saw, managed to push through the final stretch of the pathway. They would have kept running out too, if Thorin, standing behind Ella, hadn't stopped them. They were at the very end of a ridge, in front of them a hidden valley.

They all stared in heavenly disbelief at the sight before him. Before them lay a beautiful scenery: a castle with many tops and towers and bridges and gazebos sat atop never ending waterfalls that fell into the streaming river below. Perhaps the orcs had slain them, and they'd ascended all together.

"The Valley of Imraldis." Gandalf introduced. "In the Common Tongue, it's known by another name."

"Rivendell." Bilbo managed to squeak in the majesty of the view before him.

Ella gleamed as if she'd found gold, and skipped down the path to reach the castle, an amazed Bilbo behind her. The dwarves, on the other hand, became extremely displeased.

"Here lies the last homely house east of the sea." Gandalf spoke as the company walked around him.

Thorin wheeled around and glared at Gandalf, waiting for him to walk together.

" _This_ was your plan all along, to seek refuge with our enemy." The king dwarf glowered.

"You'll find no enemies here."

Down the path and over the bridges they marched, to the music of elf songs as sweet as laughter. None but Ella and Gandalf understood a word of the songs, except when they recognized their own names. The girl and the wizard found it hilarious to listen to the songs and watch the rest of the company wonder in confusion why their names were said.

The Company finally entered the main courtyard of Rivendell. The entire place seemed to be suspended in an eternal state of tranquility, with golden sunshine surrounding them and the peaceful melody of the waterfalls in front of them. Bilbo couldn't look enough, awed by Rivendell's majesty.

Their wait was ended when a dark-haired elf came down the flight of stairs ahead. He gave Gandalf a courteous smile, as if old friends.

The wizard and the elf talked some in elvish and the dwarves and company stood bored out of their minds when suddenly a stampede arose behind them. Thorin called attention and they all stood back to back, weapons drawn, as Elrond and his horsemen circled their guests.

Lord Elrond jumped off his horse and greeted his friend the wizard. They exchanged dialogue in the Elf's language, and the elf lord welcomed the dwarf king and his company into the last homely house. Elrond turned and escorted the aged wizard upstairs, but he had only taken one step when he faltered and quickly turned around as if he'd missed seeing a ghost.

"Something the matter, m'lord?" Gandalf queried in concern.

The stately lord fixed himself and smiled at his stunned guests as he resumed walking.

"That _girl_." Elrond began in elvish.

"You know her?"

"Do you?" Elrond asked.

"It's fair to say she _herself_ knows not of herself. We came across her in our travels."

"And where is it that you're traveling _to_ , if I may ask?"

The wizard avoided the question with a laugh.

"All in good time, old friend. All in good time."

The dwarves accompanied their elvish hosts for dinner, and sat quite miserably so with the lack of any meat or festive music. The rest of the company sat complaining in their own little table while their king joined the elf lord on his table.

"This is Orcrist," Elrond informed Thorin, his tone infused with utmost interest. "The Goblin Cleaver. A famous blade, forged by the High Elves of the West. My kin. May it serve you well."

After returning Thorin's esteemed sword back to him, Elrond took interest in the wizard's weapon of choice: Glamdring, the Foe-hammer.

Below them on the company's table, the hobbit listened in on their discussion and took out his own small sword underneath the table. His sly act was not missed by Balin, who gave him a pitying smile.

"I wouldn't bother, laddie. Swords are named for the great deeds they do in war."

"What are you saying, my sword hasn't seen battle?"

"I'm not actually sure it _is_ a sword; more of a letter opener, really."

Down along the table, Ella sat cross legged in her space, eyes closed as she enjoyed the elf music, much contrary to her friends. Her sharp elf ears picked up their aversion to the music in between the harps and the flutes, and a memory came to her.

Meanwhile, Thorin found himself completely perturbed by Elrond's endless questions and excused himself from dinner, leaving his host and the wizard to talk after him.

Ella opened her eyes and stood, walking over to the musicians. She tapped the nearest flute playing ellith and got her attention in perfect elvish.

"I do beg your pardon, would you be bothered too much if I borrowed your flute for a moment?"

All around her fell silent upon hearing this possible dwarf girl speak perfect elvish. The flutist took a minute to react, then smiled and offered her instrument.

The company watched as Ella adjusted herself around the flute, catching Fili's attention the most. He gazed leaning on the table, his head resting in his palm, ignoring his brother's disgust.

"Isn't she _perfect_? She can fight, she can ride, she can speak elf, _and_ she can play the flute!"

The first note that blew through Ella's flute snapped Lord Elrond's attention her way. Had it been a slightly faster rate, he would have beheaded himself.

"So, you _do_ know her." Gandalf confirmed as he watched the elf lord's astonishment.

"I have not _heard_ that music since long before the war." Elrond breathlessly answered.

"A _lover_?" Gandalf comically asked.

 _ **"I**_ am not the lucky one." He answered quickly and closed his eyes to listen, probably remembering happy times long ago.

Dinner ended and the company relaxed around an open fire out on one of the terraces. The young fellas sat about joking and teasing each other while Thorin and Ella lurked elsewhere.

The elf-human turned dwarf(?) strolled the halls of the homely home. Her hand folded over the walls as every touch seemed to bring back memories. In one particular hall, she found, lain across a clothed pedestal, the shards of the legendary great sword Narsil. Her intrigue overcame her and she reached to touch it as if captured in its stupor. The glamor violently came off the moment she touched the sword, nightmarish visions playing in her mind.

"Please, find yourself at home."

Great! Another thing to startle her.

Ella turned and curtsied to her host.

"I beg your pardon, my lord. I was just carelessly wandering."

"You seem to know this place." Elrond stated as he strolled around her.

"Perhaps in a past life once." Ella replied instead to the mural hanging above Narsil, depicting a scene from The War.

Elrond had finally come to stand in front of her and drew her attention as he stood looming above her.

" _This_ is not your true form." He inquired as he grabbed her shoulders.

"It is not." She scooped the dream catcher in her palm and showed it to the elf lord.

"Gandalf gave it to me before I met the rest of the company. They don't seem too fond of elves."

Elrond smiled, both at her joke and the confirmation of her real identity.

"You could tell!" Ella whispered in surprise after they'd settled.

"Tell _what_?"

"You _know_ who I am!"

Elrond smiled at her and folded his hands back.

"Maybe," He leaned forward to answer her.

"But you won't tell me, will you?"

Elrond stood up straight and made to leave.

"It is not my place, my dear friend. It's a journey you must go alone. Or at the least in the company of dwarves. I hope you find yourself soon..." he was quite a distance from her when he finished his sentence

"... for there's someone I know who desperately awaits your return."

(watch?v=nkpteBmR60M) add this after you tube


	7. Home Sick

Just before dawn they left, happy and unhappily so. Some answered questions, and some questions to answer still. They trudged through the dry wilderness of Eriador, over ranges and under waterfalls as the Misty Mountains,capped with snow, grow nearer with every step. The sky that framed their journey wasn't always on their side, as they happened upon a fierce thunder storm. Lightning struck here and there, and rain poured mercilessly down, as if walking on dangerously narrow trails weren't a feat of their own. On one side a cliff limited them, threatening to push them over the the sheer drop in front. Still their king barked them to move to on. The royal dwarves were used to hardships since the time they'd been driven homeless, but the poor little hobbit was still afresh of adventure, more vary than they others. Fate seemed to test him as the stone beneath him gave way, only for Dwalin to catch him in the nick of time.

"We must find shelter!" Thorin finally thundered to his half-drowned company.

Dwalin stared up in the wild sky, looking at something in the distance.

"Look out!" he shouted as a massive boulder came hurtling their way. It hit the mountainside above the dwarves, sending rocks crumbling around them as they pressed against the mountain for cover.

Balin was next to notice something up ahead.

"This is no thunder storm! It's a thunder battle! Look!"

The company watched as a massive stone giant reared up from a nearby mountain. It ripped a giant chunk of stone from the top of the mountain.

"Well, bless me!" One of the young princes gasped in wonder. "The legends are true! Giants; stone giants!"

The stone giant threw the rock across the valley into another stone giant. The dwarves watched, hopelessly caught in the middle.

"Take cover, you'll fall!"

Debris began to fall over the Company once again and the dwarves held onto the mountainside as the ground beneath them cracked and split, dividing the group in two.

"Kili, grab my hand!" The older prince reached for his younger brother but he was a moment too late, as the two halves of the broken mountain began to separate away.

"Kili!" Fili desperately cried out for his brother as Ella held Kili back from falling over. She, Kili, Oin, Gloin and Thorin drifted away from the others as they stood on the knees of a third stone giant, who rose slowly to the fight. The second stone giant lumbered over, head butting the third. As the giant fell backwards, Bilbo and the dwarves went swaying forwards and back, hanging onto the mountainside for dear life. Fatefully, luck seemed to be on the side of the dwarf king and the knee carrying Thorin, Oin, Gloin andKili and Ella happened to hit a flat ledge and the party managed to jump onto the still side of the mountain.

Their other halves were not so lucky. As the third giant rose back up again, the first threw a mean a rock, beheading it and sending it falling back into place as Thorin and the others watched helpless, the rest of the Company seemingly crushed between the stone.

"Fili, NO!" The worry struck uncle screamed as he ran forward across the ledge towards the others. His wasn't the only voice screaming for the heir of Durin, but Kili was in too much shock to utter a word. Ella ran behind Thorin as he ran along the path to the spot the knee had crashed into the cliff. The king dwarf only breathed when he saw the others scrambled on a ledge, his gaze resting contently on his precious burglar. It was Kili's cries that pulled him from his spell.

"Fili!" The youngest prince screamed for his brother.

Thorin frantically joined the search for his nephew.

"Fili! Where's Fili!?"

"OVER HERE!" They heard a faint yell and got low on the ground to peer over the cliff, to find the lad two ledges too low.

"Are you fine, brother?"

"Well that depends, is a broken leg covered in 'fine'?"

"Hold on, I'm coming!" Thorin attempted to slide down onto the next ledge, but simply his shuffling on the cliff sent some debris down onto the first ledge, crumbling a wedge.

"You're too big, Thorin." Balin warned him as they pulled Thorin back from the edge.

"I'll go." Kili offered, starting a mini argument amongst them.

"Hold this tight for me, will you?" Ella asked Dwalin, the biggest of the dwarves.

"Sure," he mindlessly said, not entirely certain what the girl had asked.

It became clear in the next second when Ella flew past them, swinging on a rope.

"HOLD TIGHT!" Dwalin informed the others of the rope in his hand, and they all rushed to hold a grip.

Ella used the side of the cliff to gently lower herself to where Fili was.

"Found yourself in distress, me damsel?" Ella joked as she landed behind him.

Fili looked at her incredulously.

"I'll be fine once we make it back top."

"Right. Pull us up!"

The group on the cliff slowly worked on pulling in the rope, lest it snap.

"Now hold on gently here." Ella guided his hands around herself so they would both be drawn up.

Fili had a smirk on his face, which made his rescuer laugh.

"What is it?"

"I'm afraid if I said it, you'd drop me." He said looking down at the progress they'd made.

Ella smacked him. "Wise dwarf. You'll make a fine king some day."

The rope finally came to an end and Thorin hurriedly pulled his nephew in while the others helped Ella get her footing.

"Let's look at that leg, yeah?" Balin spoke, making Thorin let go of his heir so he could be fixed.

"We must find shelter for the night." Thorin announced and lead the search.

They found a dark cave and after Dwalin investigated it, decided to settle there.

As the others settled around him Thorin looked about for the stranger in their midst, but found no sign of her. He left the cave in search of her, only to find her just about changing. Thorin quickly turned away, blushing having invaded her privacy.

"I'm sorry, I didn't intend to..."

"It's fine, I'm changed."

He refused to believe her till Ella herself turned him to face her.

"Sorry, I didn't take into consideration you being..."

"Forgotten, moved on. You were _looking_ for me?"

"I was. I... am not easy to warm up to strangers. Hell, my own men might find me intolerable sometimes."

" _Not_ sometimes." Ella joked.

Thorin scoffed a laugh. "Yes, well, anyway. Tonight you took the initiative to save my nephew's life, without care of your own wellbeing."

"Oh well, it's nothing really. I mean, we _are_ supposed to take care of each other no?"

"No. My sisters sons, they are _my_ responsibility. It means much to me what you did tonight. You have the dwarf king in your debt; you need simply ever ask."

Ella curtseyed to the king. "I'll keep that in mind."

Thorin smiled and motioned for the way back to the cave, letting her go first.

They made no fire that night and layered their luggage underneath as beds. Bofur got the first guard.

Ella was just about tucked in when another apology stirred her, this time from the youngest prince.

"I mean it. I haven't been your biggest fan since the beginning to be quite honest," Kili whispered to her. "But you saved my brother tonight, and for that you'll always be a friend."

"Thank you, Kili. You'll always be a friend of mine as well. Now, be best if we tuck in, we'll need the strength tomorrow. Good night."

"Good night, Ella."

A good night was not for all to have. With the others knocked around beside him, Bilbo Baggins looked about to see that absolutely no one would be awake to see him go. The comfort of home had finally got the best of him, and Thorin's coldness was really the mindsetter.

"Where do you think you're going?" Bofur asked just as Bilbo was a step away from freedom.

"Back to Rivendell."

"No, no, you can't turn back now,you're part of the company. You're one of us."

Bilbo sighed in frustration and looked towards a Thorin he assumed was asleep. "I'm not though, am I? Thorin said I should never have come, and he was right. I'm not a Took, I'm a Baggins." He turned to the cave entrance once more, but his two ancestries seemed to have a battle inside him. "I don't know what I was thinking. I should have _never_ ran out my door."

"You're homesick; I understand." Bofur offered a comforting hand on the shoulder.

"No, you don't! You don't understand, none of you do - you're dwarves!" He thrust his hand in the direction of the sleeping lot. "You're used to this life,to living on the road, never settling in one place, not belonging anywhere."

Bofur's offended look turned Bilbo into an apologetic.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"No, you're right. We don't belong anywhere." Bofur paused as he wishfully looked to his brethren, "I wish you all the luck in the world. I really do."

Beaming, Bofur placed his hand on Bilbo's shoulder, exchanging one final look, before Bilbo finally turned to the exit.

"What's that?" Bofur's voice stopped him from taking a single step and the hobbit turned to see where the dwarf was pointing to. The light from his belt drew their attention and Bilbo hesitantly drew out his dagger. Gandalf's words echoed in his mind as the blue light spread around them.

Bofur and Bilbo snap at each other as Bofur figured out what the blue light meant.

"THORIN!" Bofur yelled as strange, slithering sounds come from the sands below them.

Thorin notices the sand slithering as it split, and yelled to warn the others, but before anyone can react, the cave floor collapsed downwards, sending them spinning down in the very rocky tunnels, ending inside an oddly made cage.

As the company piled on one on top of the other, a horde of goblins come running at them blaring their nasty teeth and nails. The creatures viciously take their weapons, and pass them forwards to the others. The dwarves' attempt to fight back is to no avail as they are unevenly surrounded. The dwarves are marched on and Bilbo's left behind, all in luck until a lone goblin jumped him and they both go falling into the void below.

A fall that changed the course of history for ever.


	8. Frying Pan

The goblins chained their hands behind their backs and linked them all together in a line, and dragged them to the far end of the cavern. The passages there were crossed and tangled in all directions, but the goblins knew their way; and the way went down and down. The goblins were very rough, and pinched unmercifully, and chuckled and laughed in their horrible stony voices.

They began to sing, or croak, keeping time with the flap of their flat feet on the stone, and shaking their prisoners as well. It sounded truly terrifying. The walls echoed to the _clap_ , _snap_! and the _crush_ , _smash_! The general meaning of the song was only too plain; for the goblins took out whips to whipped them with, and set them running as fast as they could in front of them.

There came a glimmer of a red light and they stumbled into a big cavern. It was lit by a great red fire in the middle, and by torches along the walls, and it was full of goblins. They all laughed and stamped and clapped their hands when the dwarves came running in, while the goblin-drivers whooped and cracked their whips behind.

Goblins were cruel, wicked, and bad- hearted. They did not hate dwarves especially, no more than they hated everybody and everything. But they had a special grudge against Thorin's people, because of a significant war in their shared past.

In the shadows on a large flat stone sat a tremendous goblin with a huge head, and armed goblins stood round him carrying their axes and bent swords.

With a wheeze and a cough, the Great Goblin lounged on his throne; far larger and far uglier than any other goblin.

The goblins piled the dwarves' weapons together and the Company themselves huddled closer together, keeping the princes and the girl in the center, the most safe.

The great goblin leapt from his throne, leaning on a skull-topped mace for support.

"Who are these miserable persons?" Croaked he.

"Dwarves, your malevolence."

"Dwarves?!"

"We found them on the Front Porch."

"Up to no good, I'll warrant! Spying on the private business of my people, I guess! Thieves, I shouldn't be surprised to learn! Murderers and friends of Elves, not unlikely! Come! What have you got to say?"

The dwarves looked amongst themselves, hesitant to answer. The Goblin king grinned maliciously.

"Very well, if they will not talk, we'll make them squawk! Bring out the mangler! Bring out the bone breaker! Start with the youngest!"

It was hard to miss that his fat, ugly finger pointed to Kili, stirring Thorin's paternal instincts, and he quickly pushed aside the others to step forward.

"Wait! Thorin the dwarf, at your service!" he replied; a polite nothing. "Of the things which you suspect and imagine we had no idea at all. We sheltered from a storm in what seemed a convenient and unused cave; nothing was further from our thoughts than inconveniencing goblins in any way whatever."  
That was true enough.

"Well, well, well, look who it is! Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror, King under the Mountain." The Great Goblin feigned a mocking bow and the goblin assembly laughed.

"Oh, but I'm forgetting, you don't have a mountain. And you're not a king. Which makes you nobody, really."

The monster grinned as the most delicious thought popped in his mind.

"But I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head. Just the head, nothing attached."

Next to Ellie the princes twitched at the thought of someone hurting their uncle. But they were ridiculously outnumbered. Ellie grabbed Fili's hand, keeping him still. The blonde prince looked at their joined hands and smiled, then grabbed his brother's hand in the other, extending the gesture.

"Perhaps you know of whom I speak. A vengeful enemy of yours. A pale Orc, astride a white Warg."

Thorin looked as if his nightmare stood in front of him, shocked in disbelief.

"Azog the Defiler was destroyed! He was slain in battle long ago."

"So you think his defiling days are done,  
do you?" The goblin king smirked at the dwarves's misery.

"Send word to the pale Orc!" He shouted to his legions. "Tell him I have found his prize."

A tiny goblin scribe, sitting in a basket, scribbled down the note and pulled a lever, sailing off into the dark caverns below.

When Bilbo opened his eyes, he wondered if he had; for it was just as dark as with them shut. He could hear nothing, see nothing, and he could feel nothing except the stone of the floor.  
Very slowly he got up and groped about on all fours, till he touched the wall of the tunnel; but neither up nor down it could he find anything.

"Yeees! Yees! Yeees!" He heard a childish voice and hid behind a giant fungus, afraid of anyone that didn't look, or sound, like anyone from the company.

"Gollum! Gollum!" The voice chided.

Bilbo dared to peak above the mushroom, watching as the creature crawled to the goblin.

Gollum, Bilbo named the creature, dragged the goblin by his feet. Suddenly, it sprung to life, grabbing Gollum. In response, Gollum grabbed a nearby rock, crushing and pounding the goblin's head.

The goblin, knocked out, fell backwards and Gollum continued to pull the goblin away.

"Nasty goblinses. Better than old bones, precious."

Bilbo sat down on the cold floor and gave himself up to complete miserableness, for a long while. He thought of himself frying bacon and eggs in his own kitchen at home—for he could feel inside that it was high time for some meal or other; but that only made him miserabler. He could not think what to do; nor could he think what had happened.

In slapping all his pockets and feeling all round himself for matches, his hand came on the hilt of his little sword that he got from the trolls. Now he drew it out. It shone pale and dim before his eyes.

"So it is an elvish blade, too," he whispered to himself, "and goblins are not very near, and yet not far enough."

"Go back?" he thought. "No, I don't even know which way _back_ is! Go sideways? Impossible! Go forward? Only thing to do! On we go!" So up he got, and trotted along with his little sword held in front of him and one hand feeling the wall.

Led by the blue light of the elvish blade, Bilbo kept walking in the dark, until his hobbit feet kicked something was of a different material than the rest of the floor. He directed his blade to the object and saw it... the Ring.

He bent low to examine it, but startled by the moans of the creature, dropped the Ring in his pocket. Against his survival instincts, he followed the sound of Gollum's voice.

The creature was singing an odd song as he sat on his cliff, cutting away at his food, till he was distracted by a blue light.

Bilbo, noticing the song had abruptly stopped, dove behind a boulder to hide, and when he looked up again, the cliff was empty.

Gollum, lurking on a small wooden raft like boat, paddled his hands in the water as he head towards the boulder. Bilbo still hid behind the rock, his breath quick and pained; afraid

He heard a scuffling noise behind, or more correctly _above_ him, and turned to look up to find Gollum climbing the rock above. He jumped down and gave Bilbo a toothy grin as the hobbit drew out his sword.

"Bless us and splash us, precious!"


	9. Fire

With an explosion of white light, the goblins and their torture machines went flying and the dwarves knocked to the ground. As sight cleared up, they saw saw Gandalf's frame, tall against the dim light, armed with sword and staff.

"Take up arms. Fight. Fight!"

The dwarves jumped to their feet, fending off the goblins. Gandalf sliced through the oncoming goblins, like butter. The Great Goblin trembled as he noticed Gandalf's sword.

"He wields the Foe-Hammer. The Beater, bright as daylight!"

Among the chaos, the dwarves managed to reach their weapons. Axes, swords, and hammers tossed from this dwarf to that dwarf. Together, they charge into battle, shouting war cries.

Ella sliced through goblins, spraying black blood. The bodies fell at her feet, dead. In her haste, she tripped over the bodies and fell herself, in the eyesight of the Great one. The giant rose to his feet, charging forward, as he brought his mace down on Ella. But before his arm could swing down, he froze, an arrow poking through his forehead. Kili helped his friend up and they continued the fight while trying to find a way to escape. Meanwhile with a frightened howl, the goblin king fell down to the depths below. Now armed, the dwarves butchered the goblins, fighting with great severity. Gandalf approached them, urgent.

"Follow me! Quick! Run!" He yelled as they sprint out of the throne room, herds of goblins chase after them.

Down below, Bilbo hurried down the tunnels, sword at his side as the creature shouted after him. The hobbit managed to dives into a cave on his left, out of breath, and gratefully watched Gollum crawl past the entrance. Relieved, Bilbo made for a crack in the cave wall, squeezing through the cranny. He'd almost made it too, had it not been his shirt button getting caught along the edge; stuck. It had to be at that moment that the creature walked back, locking eyes with the hobbit. He snarled, and rushed into the cave screaming "It's ours! It's ours!"

Bilbo flustered to push farther into the cave, and as he did so his brass buttons ripped off his waistcoat, raining down on an irritated Gollum and allowing Bilbo to the other side of the tunnels. It was almost smooth sailing ahead, until he tripped on some rocks and fell on his back. As he fell, the thing in his pocket, that wasn't his, flew up into the air. Bilbo watched it descend and tried to grab it, but instead of landing in his waiting palm, The Ring slid onto his finger, changing his world.

The gang had run down paths, jumped moving ladders, and now blessedly, finally saw light at the end of the tunnel. They run furiously, scrambling to get to the exit, being barked at by goblins and bosses. Nearby, a stunned and invisible Bilbo watched them run by, one after the other: Gandalf, Thorin, Dwalin, some others, Fili, Kili, and the... _woman_? He didn't have the time to wonder about it as Gollum appeared before him, blocking his path to freedom.

The creature turned, distracted by people running in his region, and behind him stood Bilbo, sword pointed. The creature turned again, unknowingly staring right at Bilbo's face, his eyes growing into a senile, childlike appearance.

 _True courage is about knowing not when to take a life, but when to spare one."_

Bilbo put down his sword, thinking his next actions through. But as Gollum's features snarled, he made up his mind. With a big breath in, Bilbo dashed forward, using the creature as leverage to push himself out and ran into the daylight.

The other's weren't too far ahead of him. They stopped for a headcount, Gandalf counting the roster.

"Three, four, five, Gloin, that's six. And Dwalin, that makes seven. Fili, Kili, Ellie..."  
Gandalf stopped, muttering to himself as he looked about.

"Where's Bilbo? Where is our hobbit?"

From behind a tree, a still invisible hobbit looked on, the running not the first thing that made him distraught. It came a close second to the tall, blonde woman standing right next to Kili. In his literal and figurative haze, he couldn't think who the woman could be.

"Curse the halfling! Now he's lost!"

"I thought he was with Kili!

"Don't blame me!"

"Well, where did you last see him?"

"I think I saw him slip away when they fist cornered us." The girl said.

This stressed Gandalf, and he began to panick.

"What happened exactly? Tell me!"

"I'll tell you what happened." Thorin intervened. "Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it. He's thought of nothing but his soft bed and his warm hearth since first he stepped out of his door."

"He has been more trouble than use so far," said one. "If we have got to go back now into those abominable tunnels to look for him, then drat him, I say."

"I brought him, and I don't bring things that are of no use." Gandalf all but roared. "Either you help me to look for him, or I go and leave you here to get out of the mess as best you can yourselves. If we can only find him again, you will thank me before all is over."

"We will not be seeing our hobbit again. He is long gone."

"No, he isn't." Bilbo confidentially said as he visibly stepped around the tree. The dwarves took a surprise, while Gandalf's face lit up in relief.

"Bilbo Baggins! I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life!"

Bilbo steps closer and the dwarves circled around him, stunned. He saw Ellie come up next to Thorin, and it finally hit him.

"Bilbo! We'd given you up!" Kili happily said as he held the hobbit by the arms,

How on earth did you get past the goblins?" Fili asked.

"How, indeed?"

Bilbo gives a nervous laugh as he slipped a hand into his pocket thinking he was sly, but the grey wizard noticed.

With Bilbo without an answer, Gandalf stood for him.

"Well, what does it matter? He's back."

The answer didn't satisfy Thorin.

"It matters. I want to know; why did you come back?"

Bilbo shifted in irritation. "Look, I know you doubt me. I know you always have. And you're right. I often think of Bag End. I miss my books, and my armchair, and my garden. See, that's where I belong. That's home. And you don't have one, a home. It was taken from you. But I will help you take it back if I can."

Close around him, the dwarves smiled in his appreciation. Ellie, Fili, And Kili exchanged a smile between them and held hands.

Flustered and without a response, Thorin itched to say something, but was cut off by the roar of a hound. The company froze as they felt and heard a stampede coming their way. Thorin turned to Gandalf, wide eyed.

"Out of the frying pan..."

"Into the fire."

They ran.


	10. Who Are You

Bilbo rescued Thorin, and the mighty eagles rescued them all from certain death by fire or orc. They were now on the carrock, panicking over the condition of their leader as the eagles protectively swarmed them. Fili was kneeling beside his unconscious uncle, tears in his eyes. Kili and Ella stood behind him, hands on his shoulders.

"Thorin!" Gandalf barked as he landed, flopping to the ground. His eyes closed and his hand went over Thorin's face.

The wizard mumbled something and words echoed in Ellie's heart as well, praying for the well being of her friend.

"Uncle!" Kili reached as the king dwarf opened his eyes.

Ellie noticed Bilbo release a heavy sigh of relief.

"Where's the halfling?" the dwarf asked the wizard.

Gandalf smiled at Thorin's confusion.

"It's all right. Bilbo is here. He's quite safe."

Thorin hobbled to stand and the company shuffled to help him up. He found his footing and faced off against his savior.

"YOU!" Thorin barked and moods shifted. Bilbo's smile instantly dropped and the rest of the company were quite confused.

"What were you doing? You nearly got yourself killed!" Thorin continued as he stalked closer to Bilbo.

"Did I not say that you would be a burden?"

"Thorin..." Fili began in an attempt to recourse his uncle's attention.

"That you would not survive in the Wild? That you had no place amongst us?"

Bilbo visibly swallowed and rest looked between them.

"I have never been so wrong in all my life!" Thorin huffed as he fell on Bilbo in a hug.

It took a second for Bilbo to realize what was happening, and the others cheered hurray.

"But I'm sorry I doubted you." Thorin began as he pulled away.

The hobbit scoffed a laugh.

"No, I would have doubted me too. I'm not a hero, or a warrior."

"Not even a burglar." He addressed Gandalf.

The sun gave its final rays and Thorin's company watched the eagles fly away.

Suddenly, Bilbo noticed Thorin's gaze stuck on something, and the two walked in that direction.

"Is that what I think it is?"

They all walked to the edge of the monolith, yearningly staring at their home far away.

Thorin was speechless.

"Erebor." Gandalf confirmed to Bilbo. "The lonely mountain. The last of the great Dwarf kingdoms of Middle-earth."

"Our home." Thorin said, mostly to himself, with gleaming eyes.

"A raven!" One of the dwarves shouted, watching it head toward the mountain.

"The birds are returning to the mountain."

"That, my dear Oin, is a thrush." Gandalf corrected him.

"But we'll take it as a sign. A good omen."

"You're right." Bilbo agreed. "I do believe the worst is behind us."

The thrush indeed made its way to the lonely mountain, only to sit on a rock and bang its food against mountain. The knocking of the bird's little seed echoed in the great halls of Erebor, swimming with gold under which lay the last fire drake of middle earth, asleep.

Sleep didn't come easy to the dwarf princes. While the rest of the company slept around the fire, Fili and Kili sat up against a boulder, busying their hands while they hummed and sang.

"Far over  
The Misty Mountains cold  
To dungeons deep  
And caverns old

We must away,  
Ere break of day  
To find our long  
Forgotten gold

The pines were roaring  
On the height  
The winds were moaning  
In the night

The fire was red,  
it flaming spread  
The trees like torches  
blazed with light"

From near by, Ellie heard their song and came their way. She too hadn't been able to catch sleep after today's events. The orcs' black speech echoed in her mind and left her restless.

"Mind if I join?" She poked her head around the boulder and startled the two.

"Oh, Ellie. Shouldn't have jumped us!" Fili said with a laugh.

"Sure, find a seat." Kili invited her.

Ella rested against a tree opposite the boulder.

"That was a lovely song. What were you singing?"

"Our song. Uncle Thorin used to sing it to us when were restless."

"Can you sing more?"

The brothers cleared their throat and began encore.

"The dwarves of yore  
Made mighty spells  
While hammers fell  
Like ringing bells

In places deep,  
Where dark things sleep,  
In hollow halls  
Beneath the fells.

For ancient king  
And elvish lord  
There many a gleaming  
Golden hoard

They shaped and wrought,  
And light they caught  
To hide in gems  
On hilt of sword."

As the dwarves sang, Ellie had closed her eyes and, unknown to herself began to hum a different tune. Fili and Kili stopped their song and looked at her. Ellie opened her eyes to find them smiling at her.

"Don't think that's _our_ song." Kili said.

"What?" Ellie asked, not sure of what had happened.

"The song. Is it yours? Do you remember it?" Fili asked.

Ellie closed her eyes and tried to rethink the tune. At first she began humming it, then words slowly filled her mind and she began to sing.

"How does a moment last forever?  
How can a story never die?  
It is love we must hold on to  
Never easy but we try

Sometimes our happiness is captured  
Somehow a time and place stand still  
Love lives on inside our hearts  
and always will

Minutes turn to hours  
Days to years then gone  
But when all else has been forgotten  
Still our song lives on"

"That's beautiful. Where is it from?" Kili asked.

"A lullaby," she answered. Me and my..." before she could finish her sentence, she suddenly had memories. Of herself playing with a little boy, who looked _just_ like her. "My mother used to sing it to me," she lied.

"Up for an encore?" Fili teased her.

Ellie smiled. "Of course!"

She closed her eyes and began:

Maybe some moments weren't so perfect  
Maybe some memories not so sweet  
But we have to know some bad times  
Or are lives are incomplete

Then when the shadows overtake us  
Just when we feel all hope is gone  
We'll hear our song and know once more  
Our love lives on

How does a moment last forever?  
How does our happiness endure?  
Through the darkest of our troubles  
Love is beauty, love is pure

Love pays no mind to desolation  
It flows like a river through the soul  
Protects, persists, and perseveres  
And makes us whole

Minutes turn to hours, days to years then gone  
But when all else has been forgotten  
Still our song lives on  
That's how a moment lasts forever:  
When our song lives on

She opened her eyes when the song finished, and smiled to find the brothers asleep. Her maternal instincts kicked in and she awed at the scene before her. But then the thought of having maternal instincts distressed her, and she left to take a walk.

Ellie sat on a fallen tree, staring at the lake far away. She took of the dream catcher Gandalf had given her, and held it tight in her hand. The moon's reflection glittered at the horizon, like tears made her sight watery. She couldn't escape from the memory of the little boy. More and more began to swarm in her mind. Ellie remembered teaching the boy how to shot arrows. How to swing in the trees, how to ride pony. She remembered taking him on picnics and walks, with his father along.

Ellie remembered teaching him how to walk, feeding him, healing him. She remembered her joy when he began to crawl, and then she remembered the pain of giving birth. She wanted to scream, call for _him_ to be at her side as she birthed their son. Ellie was just about to scream his name when she heard noise behind her and quickly put on the necklace and stood up, turning around to see a very stunned Bilbo.

"Y-you!" The hobbit stammered.

"Shh!" Ellie warned as she grabbed him and sat him on the tree next to her.

"You're... a human?" He guessed incorrectly.

Ellie laughed. "No, I'm an elf." She tucked her hair behind her elvish ears to show him proof.

"Wow." Bilbo gasped.

"Yes. Gandalf gave me this necklace right before I happened upon you all. He said the dwarves weren't fond of elves."

"Or hobbits for that matter."

"Well, they like you _now!_ " She quieted to tease him. " _He_ likes you now."

"Well, I did save his life."

They sat in silence for a while after that.

"So what's keeping _you_ up?" Ellie asked him.

"Self insight. Realizing how far I've come from home. It _still_ feels quite unreal. Like I'll wake up back home."

She pinched him.

"Ow! What was _that_ for?!"

"It's not a dream. You're right here, next to me. An elleth pretending to be someone I'm not. I'm pretty sure I wasn't even _alive_ till a year ago." She revealed to him, and it indeed shocked him. "You survived orcs _twice_. Met lord Elrond and saw Rivendell. Were almost _troll_ food if I hadn't saved you."

"Yeah, thanks for that."

"Oh, you're welcome Mr. Burglar."

"That's yet to be seen, isn't it?" He said as he looked at the lake, feeling the ring sit against his pelvis.

Far away in the forest, a bear restlessly paced on his land, and roared.


	11. bees, bears, and broken hearts

In the morning, they took off their clothes and bathed in the lake, which was shallow and clear and stony at the ford. Ellie of course was given her own privacy, her being a she and all. When they had dried in the sun, which was now strong and warm, they were refreshed, if still sore and a little hungry. Soon they crossed the ford, and then began to march through the long green grass and down the lines of the wide-armed oaks and the tall elms.

"And why is it called the Carrock?" asked Bilbo of the monolith the eagles had left them on as he went along at the wizard's side.

"He called it the Carrock, because carrock is his word for it."

"Who calls it? Who knows it?"

"Well the..."

Before Gandalf could answer, there came another roar of a warg, and off they went again. The orcs chased them down the mountain and across streams and grasslands. By night the company had been driven up another mountain while the orc pac was still on another. They hid behind some rigid peaks and sent their burglar for a scout. Bilbo peeked over a high ledge and watched Azog and his Warg Scouts running along a ridgeline not far away, occasionally stopping to smell the air in their pursuit of the Company. Just as he was going back, Bilbo heard a snarl from the side, and ducked again behind the rocks. He peeked to the side and to his fright, saw a large bear watching the orcs from another pile of rocks. Bilbo spoke to himself in disbelief and finally went back to the group.

The hobbit made his way down the rocks to where the dwarves and Gandalf were waiting to hear his report

"So, how close is the pack?" Asked one dwarf.

"Too close." Bilbo started, out of breath. "A couple of leagues, no more, but that is not the worst of it."

"Have the Wargs picked up our scent?" Gasped another dwarf.

"Not yet, but they will; we have another problem."

"Did they see you? They saw you!" Gandalf added his guess.

"No, that's not it." Bilbo almost yelled, frustrated at their interruptions.

Gandalf ignored him and smiled turning to the dwarves.

"What did I tell you? Quiet as a mouse. Excellent burglar material."

The others chuckles loudly in appreciation of Bilbo while he himself looked exasperated that no one was hearing him out.

As Ellie watched her friends laugh, her elven ears picked up the sound of a roar. It was different from a warg's. It was bigger, angrier.

"Shut up, all of you!"

The company snapped to silence as they stood surprised at her outburst.

"There's something else out there."

"Yes, thank you! That's what I'm trying to tell you, there is something else out there."

The dwarves finally looked worried.

"What form did it take? Like a bear?" Gandalf asked.

"Ye..." Bilbo began and paused, looking curiously at Gandalf.

"Y- yes. But bigger, much bigger."

"You knew about this beast?" Bofur accusingly asked the wizard.

Gandalf ignored the question and turned and walked a few steps away.

"I say we double back." Bofur spoke his concern

"And be run down by a pack of Orcs." Thorin reminded him.

"There is a house," Gandalf began from a ways, "it's not far from here, where we might take refuge."

"Whose house? Are they friend or foe?"

"Neither. He will help us, or he will kill us."

Thorin looked to Balin with dismay.

"What choice do we have?"

A splitting roar from behind them answered the question for him.

"None."

By morning they were running again. Up slope and down dale they plodded. The Company ran through a forest, Azog and his Orcs on their tail again, but both groups stoped suddenly when an ear-splitting roar sounded nearby.

"This way, quickly!" Gandalf led on. They ran out past the forest, and into a meadow. Great patches of flowers had begun to spring up, all the same kinds growing together as if they had been planted. Especially there was clover, waving patches of cockscomb clover, and purple clover, and wide stretches of short white sweet honey-smelling clover. There was a buzzing and a whirring and a droning in the air. Bees were busy everywhere. They were bigger than hornets. The drones were bigger than your thumb, a good deal, and the bands of yellow on their deep black bodies shone like fiery gold.

"If one was to sting me," Bilbo thought, "I should swell up as big again as I am!"

They soon spied a house surrounded by a hedge in the middle of a plain.

"To the house! Run!" The wizard yelled again as the bear soon neared them.

The Company ran across the meadow and surprisingly Bombur, the fattest dwarf, outran all the rest of them in his fear. They ran to the front door of the house; it was closed. Bombur, who reached the door first, threw himself against it but fell flat on his back when the door didn't budge. The rest of the dwarves too began throwing themselves against the door, trying to open it. Ellie, at the back of the group, watched the massive bear break out from the edge of the forest and running toward them.

She ran to the others.

"Open the door!" She screamed as she pressed through the group and lifted the bar that locked the door, and they all fell in.

They couldn't have grabbed their footing a moment too soon and quickly tried to close the doors as the bear tried pushing its gnarly face through. Gandalf watched with pride as Bilbo had drawn up his sword, ready to fight if they failed.

They didn't.

"What is that?" Ori huffed as they all fell over their legs, heaving tirelessly.

"That..." Gandalf began, "is our host."

He gave them a moment to awe.

"His name is Beorn, and he is a skin-changer." He relaxed and helped himself further into the house. "Sometimes he's a huge black bear; sometimes he's a great strong man. The bear is unpredictable, but the man can be reasoned with. However, he is not overfond of dwarves."

"He's leaving!" Oin said, as he'd been listening through the door, but Dori pulled him in.

"Come away from there! It's not natural, none of it. It's obvious: he's under some dark spell."

"Don't be a fool; he's under no enchantment but his own. Alright now, get some sleep, all of you. You'll be safe here tonight."

Bilbo was the last to wake that morning, and met the others as they planned on meeting their host. Bilbo and Gandalf went out together while the rest were to wait for the signal before coming out in pairs. He hadn't told them what the signal would be, so the next five minutes turned out to be very entertaining. Sure enough, Beorn didn't look too fond of dwarves, but nonetheless invited them in for breakfast and even lent them his ponies.

Happy and determined, the company galloped across green pastures, but all excitement left them when they reached the elven gate. Twisted dead gnarly trees greeted them, taking away all hope of getting through. It hit Ellie the worst. The forest that her heart recognized as her home was unrecognizable to her eyes. The war had taken from her much more than her life.

"This forest... feels... sick." Bilbo called out.

Ellie felt sick to her stomach.

"Not unless we go 200 miles north, or twice the distance south." Gandalf was answering Bilbo's question as he ventured ahead into the forest.

"Not my horse!" He came back out yelling. "I need it."

It started to rain as Gandalf spewed warnings, heading to his horse. The trees of Mirkwood would provide shelter from the rain, but nothing else.

"...Do not touch the water." Ellie caught the end of the wizard's warning.

How could the streams, where once she played with her son, where she teased her husband, now hold nothing but death and madness?

Gandalf left and Thorin led them in. Fili nudged Ellie out of her thoughts, and she smiled kindly at the young prince before she went ahead. Ellie yearned to lead, to run up to the palace. But the further in they went, the less she could recognize the place.

Up and down twisted roots they walked, making sure to stay on the stone path. They were feeling the effects of being without pure air, when Kili shouted some good news. He'd found the bridge but as they discovered, it would not carry them over. Oin found vines tough enough to climb, and Fili was eager to climb, but was stopped by his uncle.

"We send the lightest first."

All eyes turned to the hobbit.

Reluctantly, Bilbo climbed on, testing a path for the others. Some time in, he'd issued a warning against the path, but the company was already tangled within the vines.

Bombur fell prey to sleep, and the rest had to carry his weight. The poisoned air did not make their passage any easier.

"We need to take a rest!" One of the shouted.

Bilbo heard voices, but Thorin didn't hear anything. Their minds were getting sick. Thorin lead them off the path, leaving Bilbo behind. The poor hobbit begged them to stay, but alas had no choice but to follow the king.

They'd been walking in circles, loosing their minds, and Ellie fell to sit while the others walked this way and that to find the path. Throwing her head back in exhaustion, she found herself staring at... herself. It wasn't a hallucination, she blinked her eyes to check. This her was made of stone, tall as trees, frozen in time. The dwarf princes stumbled beside her as she stared at herself. Eyes enchanted by her own monument, she hardly noticed the hisses in her ear, and then everything went black.


	12. Welcome and Goodbye

Ella was woken up by the strange ghostly sounds, yet her eyesight was still dark. She couldn't really move much either, and she realized she was wrapped in a spider web. Ella grunted as loud as she could while she tried to break free of the web. A few minutes of trying later, someone fell on her, loosening her from the web and they fell to the ground. They didn't waste time crying in pain and quickly tried to wiggle and wriggle free of the cocoons. Once hatched, they all attempted to run away in one direction, but were quickly swarmed by giant spiders. Equally fast, the dwarves were ready to fight, swinging their swords and axes and bodies at the creatures. They all fought with all their might, killing the spiders in different ways. Once they were certain there would be no more, Thorin called them forward, only to be met by another spider.

Thorin, being the first in line, would have attacked had he not been distracted by the elves. The blonde one swung down the spider's web and heroically killed it, instantly after pointing his weapon at the dwarf king. In shock of all that had happened -especially the arrival at the boy in front of her- Ellie gasped and her hand reflexively went to her throat, only now noticing her necklace lost. A whole elf guard surrounded them, thoroughly confiscating all their weapons. It was amusing to watch an elf spending an eternity on Fili alone, pulling out knives and daggers from every nook and cranny. Kili had joined them too, having been rescued by an ellith. The blonde elf examined Thorin's sword and did not take his word for how the dwarf had come across it.

Legolas -she knew his name in her soul, with her every breath- ordered the guard to take the dwarves to the king, and the elves pushed their captors on. Someone noticed Bilbo missing but Ellie was too far gone to care. These elves pushed her up paths she had walked long before any of them had been born. They crossed the bridge over the river and to the Woodland halls, which she herself had designed years ago. Inside though, felt cold to her; no warm, homely feeling to be found here. The design of the castle had been altered; very technical and uninviting. They finally reached the king's court at last and Ellie heard the gasp that left the king's mouth. Had she looked up, she would have seen the look of ghastly shock on his face.

"Throw them in the dungeons!" Thranduil ordered. Every atom of her being and her soul knew his name.

The guards came to collect the dwarves and two had come to collect Thorin and Ellie but the king stopped them.

"Not those two." He pointed clearly at them with his staff.

The guards rough handled the two and shoved them to the floor. Thranduil gasped in pain when Ellie did.

The king descended his throne and came toward them.

"Are you alright?'' Thranduil's voice almost broke as he leaned down to her.

"As fine as I'll be, my lord."

"Why?" Thranduil whispered at her.

"I should be asking you. _Why!_ Why won't you help? Those Ungoliants would not have gotten far if you would dare send-"

"Enough! I will not have a prisoner question my authority. Take her with the rest!"

Guards took her away and Ellie didn't dare struggle, heartbroken. The elf tossed her into a cell and locked the door, beyond which Ellie regained her normal appearance. Agonizing minutes passed and the dwarves grew restless. Their only hope lay with Thorin, but even _he_ was brought into the dungeons a while after.

"A deal was our only hope." Balin regretfully said but Bilbo corrected him.

"Not our only hope." He said smiling outside of Thorin's door.

The burglar hobbit niftily unlocked the cells, releasing all the dwarves one by one. He saved Ellie for last by chance, only to be caught off guard by her natural appearance.

"Where's the girl?" Bifur asked and they all stopped to stare at Bilbo.

"Is something wrong? Is she hurt?" Fili asked gravely

"I ... uh." Bilbo stammered and walked back to let Ellie out.

Ellie left her cell slowly, nervous to show her friends her true form. Expectedly, they all gasped in shock.

"Gandalf gave me a necklace right before I met you all that made me appear dwarf like."

Her expose was met by silence.

"I've never meant to deceive nor hurt you. I was a lost soul and I needed to find the answers to a past I've quite forgotten." Ellie walked forward, intending for Fili, but the dwarf buried himself within the crowd. His brother comforted him. Ellie turned to Thorin.

"I saved your sons! Do you not trust me to be sincere in my loyalty to you?" Thorin looked back to his heir.

"I've reached my mountain, and I wish you all the luck in the world to get to yours. I will _personally_ bring the woodland army to your aid when you need us, but you need to go now. There's an escape in the cellar, it opens to the river below. It should take you undetected to Lake-town."

Ellie watched Thorin pass through his company, Bilbo leading them in the direction of the cellar.

"May luck be on your side."she wished them with a hand on her heart and a dip of her head and then she made her way to her true star.

It was a feast of Starlight and here she was stuck in the depths of her own dungeon. How unfortunate. Ellie climbed up the stairs while her friends ran down to the cellar. She could clearly hear the feast going on as if she were in the midst of it; piling chatter and charming elf music. As a woodland elf, she yearned to find the stars, but the ones in the sky mattered not to her. Her heart cried for her to run to her son and cradle him and love him and never let him go, but she needed to be certain of who she was before she would go to him. Luckily, there was one who would know her best of all, who would recognize her soul in _any_ life, past, present, or future. Her soulmate.

He was in his room; she could feel it. Even in the _past,_ he never liked to stay long at the feasts. Ellie opened his door and walked into their room, instantly feeling at home. After all, not _one_ thing had changed. He'd changed the _whole_ realm in the wake of his loss, but kept her memory alive here. Even her own _son_ felt different to her. Eluriel would _never_ haveraisedsuch a callous and demanding boy. Walking further into the room, she was met by steam coming from the bathing room. Ellie walked mesmerized into the steam, as if an enchantment called her. The glamour wore off when the steam went abided, revealing to her her true star.

The king lay reclined in his porcelain bath, no doubt letting the warm water and steam release his aches and tensions. He was so relaxed that his glamour had dropped, letting the entire left side of his face show its bone deep scars. Ella wished to turn away, feeling she had invaded his privacy, but seeing his ruined form made her heart cry. She wished to comfort him, take him into her arms and kiss his life better; if only she had any right to do so. Stealthy and slow, Ellie squat down next to the sleeping king, daring to reach her hand forward and caress his broken cheek. She had almost touched him before the king's hand swiftly caught her wrist painfully tight, his glamor returning as he still lay sleeping. Slowly, Thranduil opened his eyes to look at her, his jaw dropping as if he were seeing a vision.

His other hand reached up to cup her cheek, his thumb stroking over her skin, not believing she was there. She returned his hazy look, wanting answers to questions he might know.

"You are a mirage." Thranduil moaned to her.

Ellie shook her head.

" _What_ am I to you?" She asked softly, bringing her face close to his.

"Chwest -o mui cuil.*" He breathed and pounced on her lips as if her mouth was the source of his air.

Ellie welcomed and returned his kiss with passionate fervent kisses, and he trailed his hand to the back of her neck, holding her close. Her kisses turned to pecks and he dreaded her leave, which she felt in his features. Ella smiled and cupped his other cheek, and _did_ pull away.

"Mind if I join you?" She asked between kisses.

A huge smiled spread over his face and he returned to kissing her as his hands helped her disrobe. They both reluctantly let go as she rose, only to be escorted into the bath, settling herself between his legs. The warm water hit her tensions and she moaned. Thranduil chuckled as he kissed her shoulder, his laughter coursing through her.

"A welcome fit for a queen, yes?" He asked in his native tongue as he massaged her arms.

"Mmm! I know not of who I am, but damn if this bath doesn't feel like heaven." Ellie replied in elvish.

Thranduil laughed again and kissed her lips as he head reclined on his shoulder. He withdrew only when his lungs ached for breath yet still his lips remained on her face, grazing up to her temple.

"That is what the company of dwarves will bring you."

"The _dwarves_ who returned me to you?!" She opened her eyes to challenge. "You should be so ungrateful!"

He soothes her with a kiss. "Let's not allow dwarves between us," he spoke by her temple as he undid her hair, letting it cascade down its length. Thranduil reaches over and grabbed a vial of soap, pouring it into his pal, before he lathered it into her hair. Ellie moaned as his fingers massaged her scalp, drawing all the dirt and dyes out.

"How are you here?" He finally asked, his tone a wounded elfling.

"I know not, my love. I woke in an orc cave, lucky enough to find it abandoned. After I crawled out of there, I spent some time as a human before I ran away and crossed paths with Thorin's company. And well, the rest is history."

Thranduil washes the soap out of her hair, watching the the black dye pour down their bodies and wash out into the pool. He pulled her back into his body, and they fell asleep in each other's arms.

"I'll release your friends in gratitude." Thranduil said, his eyes still closed.

Ella smirked. "Who said they were waiting for you?"

"Hmm?"

"You never wondered how I got here? After _you_ had me thrown in the dungeon?"

Thranduil kissed her in apology.

"And how _did_ you manage to do that?"

"Thanks to a little hobbit, of course."

"Hobbit? In my halls?"

"Mhmm." Ellie mumbled her reply, truly falling asleep as her confession awoke him.

Thranduil pondered on her words, absently tickling his fingers up and down her thighs. Ellie shifted in her sleep and her eyes opened slightly, hazily staring behind Thranduil's ear. A rumble lift in her stomach and she smirked. Her mate felt her skin heat up and his own body began a slow reaction. Ellie shuffled her face closer to his ear and ran her tongue on the extended tip of his ear. Thranduil reacted instantly, his head crunching immediately towards her and his thumb dug into her pelvis.

"Eluriel, rest melleth."

Despite his own argument to have her rest, his lips ghosted down the long, creamy column of her neck.

"Rest... is for the dead." She teasingly whispered in his ear and Thranduil was done.

Warm welcome indeed.

* * *

*breath of my life


	13. The Prince and the Captain

The king and queen of Greenwood were sleeping peacefully, tangled on the bed. Thranduil kept his arms tight around Eluriel, in fear that she might go away if he let go. The knock on the door woke him up but he remained still, gathering his senses. He looked down to see his wife's head resting on his chest. Thranduil kissed her head and managed to slip out from under her, putting on a robe before he attended to the door.

"My king," the guard did a quick head bow before Thranduil.

"Let me guess, the dwarves have escaped."

"Yes, your majesty. The guards gave chase, but we were ambushed by a group of orcs."

Thranduil's heart beat faster at the mention of his enemies, but his appearance stayed calm.

"Where is my son?" He asked darkly.

"The Prince is safe, your majesty. The dwarves escaped, but his Highness managed to bring in an Orc."

Thranduil gave an impressed expression. He'd have to commend his son's skills, but Legolas was still his son, and they had soldiers to fight their battles for them. Thranduil couldn't bare losing Legolas.

"Have the creature brought to court. I will be down shortly. And send for Fenrir to come to my chambers."

"Yes, your majesty." The guard bowed again and swiftly went off.

Thranduil closed the door and went back towards the bed, grabbing a cup of wine on the way. He sat sideways on the bed, sipping his wine as he drank in the sight of his soul sleeping on their bed. Reaching forward, he drew a knuckle down the contour of her face, feeling her warmth against his skin.

Eluriel smiled before she opened her eyes. The queen turned onto her side and looked up at him with hooded eyes. Thranduil cupped her face and smiled back.

"*Good morning, my king.*"

"*Good morning indeed, my queen*"

Ellie reached her hand up to hold his face, bringing him down for a kiss before she sat up. Thranduil offered her his cup and she took a big sip of the King's best wine.

"You're up early."

"A king's duty does not rest. I have an audience waiting at court."

"Mmm. What will you wear?"

"What would you like me to?"

"Silver. You look so fine in silver and grey."

"Silver it is." Thranduil kissed her head and went to his enormous wardrobe, taking off his sleeping robe on the way.

"I've called for Fenrir. Do you remember him?"

"Yes I do. I think we've met. In Arindelle."

Thranduil laughed.

"So, it was my queen who laid waste of my guard."

"It was only just a game. Or perhaps you need better soldiers."

"You won't find any better than ours in all of Middle Earth."

"Yet you suffocate their talent to mere palace guards." Ellie was walking a thin line, mentioning her husband's need to only protect his own kingdom.

"Can we speak of something else?"

Eluriel put on Thranduil's discarded robe, wrapping it around herself as she walked to him.

"I want to see Legolas."

"You will, in time. Let me speak to him first." Thranduil wrapped his arms around her. "And you're not exactly dressed right for meeting your son for the first time in forever." He pulled at his robe around her shoulders.

"Fenrir will help you settle in. Anything you want, it's yours for the asking." He let her go and went to head out.

"Anything?"

Thranduil stopped and turned, giving her chastising look.

"Within your means, Eluriel. Enjoy your morning, I'll see you soon." He nodded to her and she curtsied as he left.

By Eru she couldn't believe she'd actually married Thranduil. Ellie loved him with all her soul, but when he became stubborn, she wanted to strangle him. She had wanted to strangle him when they'd first met.

* * *

Eluriel was in the practice field, trying her weapon of the day. As determined as she was, Ellie just couldn't get it right.

"*You'd be better off with a kitchen knife.*"

Ellie grumbled at the insult and her knuckles tightened around the grip of her sword. Breathing in, she locked her arms and swung around, only to stop half way. She immediately dropped her sword and kneeled to the prince while looking to see if any guards had seen her.

"*I'd get you your breakfast, _your highness,_ but I'm not the kitchen maid.*" She cockily told off prince Thranduil.

"* _That_ attitude towards the prince? Not to mention you just aimed a weapon at me...*" He strode closer and leaned in to her shoulder, "I'd be more polite."

Ellie kept her back straight.

"*I guess we _both_ need a lesson in manners.*"

"*I'm the prince. What's your excuse?*"

"I..." Eluriel cut herself off when a guard appeared behind Thranduil.

The prince smiled cockily at her and left, his hair swinging pompously behind him. Ellie screamed in frustration and stormed back to the table of weapons.

"The prince can be frustrating, but it is treason to attack the royal family.

"You saw that?" Ellie asked, fear growing in her heart, but then she remembered what little skill she had. "Well it didn't really matter, I'm only good for a kitchen knife."

"I fear for the cabbage." The guard joked, making Ellie chuckle. "You have the determination, and obviously the willingness to learn. You just need the skill."

"You think anyone will teach an elleth?"

"Try _me."_ the guard presented himself in a curtsey.

"Fenrir. I am one of the captains of the guards. And I am going to teach you."

Ellie bowed her head. "Thank you, captain."

Fenrir took on Eluriel and trained her in almost every weapon available to the elven guard. Eventually she excelled in all, but the bow and arrow was her weapon of choice.

One day, Fenrir had her fight against the Prince. King Oropher was in attendance, as was half the court and the guards, as Prince Thranduil battled against his masked assailant. Fenrir made the case to the king that the fight should be legitimate, and that "Elon" would not be punished if the prince lost. Thranduil smiled smugly at his opponent and lost concentration with his own trash talk, winning "Elon" the fight.

The prince stood with his hands clasped in front, head bowed in shame as his father looked on. Behind him, Fenrir declared "Elon" as the winner, and Eluriel took off her head cover to reveal herself. Instantly there were gasps and whispers, and Thranduil groaned having lost to an elleth; with his father watching, no less.

There was pin drop silence as king Oropher rose from his seat.

"I will see you three in court," he announced and turned imposingly, off to the throne room.

Fenrir left first, leading the other two behind him like cowering fawn. Thranduil feared what his father had to say to him for losing to a girl. Eluriel wondered what the king would do to for her breaking the customs.

The royal guards waiting at the entrance opened the doors when they saw Fenrir approach. The three passed in quietly and bowed to the king as they stood in the center of court.

"You will tell me everything I do not know!" king Oropher demanded.

Fenrir spoke, telling the king everything from Thranduil teasing Eluriel to Thranduil losing to Eluriel. King Oropher frowned upon his son and Thranduil looked down to the floor, boiling further when his father complimented the elleth.

"You have shown your worth by besting my son, and I commend you on your skill." Oropher said to Eluriel. "Perhaps you can bring my son up to your skill when you train together."

"Fenrir, you will take them on as your students."

Fenrir accepted his responsibility with a bow.

"Welcome to the elven guard, Eluriel. That being said, you will also be expected to be well educated in your court skills as well, seeing as you belong to one of the last Sindarin families. You will have your place in the elven guard, but you are also to be a lady of the court just the same."

Ellie accepted the conditions and left when the king excused them for dinner. Prince Thranduil, having lost his speech since the fight, followed his father to their halls.

The next morning, Eluriel and Thranduil began their tutorage under Fenrir. They began as enemies, always looking for ways to one up each other. Soon, as the two became the best of the Greenwood army, their competition turned friendly as they were left to their own company.

As they aged, their courtly duties increased as well. Thranduil was, after all, the crown prince of Greenwood, and had to walk in his father's shadow to learn politics. Eluriel was a lady of court, and was being trained by her mother on how to behave appropriately. When they weren't stuck in their parents' shadow, Ellie and Thranduil almost exclusively stuck to each other's company, entertaining each other, as well as the gossip around town.

On one tour, Prince Thranduil was sent alone on a delegation to Rivendell, a few customary bodyguards with him, but not Eluriel. The elleth had to stay behind, busy attending to her courtly duties. Weeks had gone by since the company had gone, until one day they came storming back, running to the king and the infirmary. The entire kingdom was on alert and shut off, no one allowed to enter or leave.

Eluriel's heart pained her, worried sick about Thranduil. No one knew what happened; King Oropher ordered the guards to not say anything in order to the keep the panic at bay. Tired of waiting, Ellie hunted down Fenrir and pressed him to reveal that the company had been attacked by giant spiders. Thranduil had been stung by one just as he had stabbed it to death, and now the prince was in the infirmary in critical condition.

Ellie walked off quietly to her room, crying to her mother for a day before she found the resolve to go see Thranduil.

There were guards stationed outside the royal infirmary, and they let Eluriel pass as she strode up to them in her guard apparel, the look on her face challenging them to stop her. Ellie sucked in a cold breath when she saw her partner laying on the bed. There was a thin sheet covering his legs for the sake of modesty, but everything else was laid bare except for the bandage around his shoulder. He was perspiring heavily, the bed sheet already soaked in his sweat as his skin glittered with more wet beads.

Ellie sat next to him, taking all of her strength to keep from touching him as her hands trembled with her sobs.

"*I should have been with you!" Ellie cried, "You were my partner! And when you're not, you're my prince! I am the most the skilled fighter of the guard! If only your father would have let me go, I would've been by your side! I would have kept you safe! I would have taken the sting. You would be...*"

"Dead."

Eluriel looked up to see Thranduil's head turned to her, his eyes weakly staring at her.

"Thran-"

"I would have been dead if I'd lost you, Lurí." He stopped to catch his breath. "It was my request that you stayed back. I didn't want to take you to Rivendell as my guard."

His confession made her eyes grow wide and he smiled.

"You're right about one thing. You are my partner. I can't imagine anyone else by my side. Whether I'm in the guard... or on the throne."

It was her turn to smile.

"Will you... be my partner, Eluriel?"

"Yes." Eluriel nodded and Thranduil's smile widened.

Ellie learned forward, reaching down to kiss him when he pulled back, scowling in pain. The expression on her face asked her question for her. Thranduil grinned.

"You have my word it is only for now. I promise you the _minute_ I am clear of this illness, there won't be a single part of me you will not have touched."

Eluriel only had a second to blush before her happiness turned to worry. Thranduil fisted the sheets and his body undulated in pain, his eyes and teeth clenched. Ellie ran over to his wounded side and peeled the bandage away to reveal the poison spreading. Quickly she grabbed the kingsfoil leaves on the side table and pressed them onto his wound, making Thranduil yell in pain.

"*I'm so sorry, my love.*" Eluriel cried and began the prayer before the physicians and guards came running.

"Get away from him!" The doctor yelled and the guards pulled her away, only to be stopped by the prince's grip on her wrist.

"Her, or no one." Thranduil hissed and everyone immediately acquiesced, letting Ellie return to the healing.

The physician took a place behind Thranduil and laid his hands on the wound as well, joining Eluriel in the prayer. Thranduil passed out minutes later, but Ellie and the physician went on all night, keeping the prince alive.

*Elvish*


	14. Together

There were no feasts in Greenwood; the great halls empty as families stuck to their quarters during the quarantine. Ellie split her time between patrol and sitting beside Thranduil, only visiting her own rooms for a change of clothes and to insure to her family that she was fine. King Oropher was far too worried about his son and the safety of his kingdom to bother limiting Eluriel to her courtly duties, which didn't exist at the moment. Her skill was better spent patrolling the forests surrounding Greenwood, keeping away the smallest threat from the kingdom.

Off duty, Eluriel spent her time sitting beside Thranduil, often waiting for him to wake up. When he was up, she would tell him stories from her patrol, and he used his limited breath to plan their courtship.

It took several moons for Thranduil to recuperate, and when he did, king Oropher held a feast in celebration of his son's health. The royal crier announced King Oropher's entrance, and he in turn announced his son with a toast to his good health. Prince Thranduil walked down an aisle of curtsy, nodding his appreciation at them. At the top of the line he passed the Sindarin families, and locked passionate eyes with his beloved as she curtsied to him.

For most of the night, Thranduil was glued to his father's side while his eyes desperately searched for Eluriel. Once or twice he caught her gaze as she shadowed her mother. Every time he locked eyes with her, he was reminded of the promise he intended to keep.

By the end of the party, when security was more lax, Thranduil left his father and went hunting for Eluriel. He found standing by an entrance to the guard room, talking with Fenrir. Smirking to himself, Thranduil went into the guard room by another entrance, and knocked incessantly behind Ellie. Ellie scanned the room for Thranduil, then when she was sure he was behind the door, she excused herself from Fenrir and snuck behind the door. The older captain walked away with a mischievous smile.

Eluriel had just made it behind the door when Thranduil grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him, spinning her in his arms before he trapped her against the wall.

"Can you not wait?" Ellie asked laughing.

"No! I believe we're already behind on a promise."

" _We_?" Ellie chastised, crossing her arms.

"Sorry. _Me_. I would have found you sooner if father had left my side for a second."

"Excuses, excuses."

Thranduil leaned his forehead against hers.

"Let me make up for it," he whispered in a deeper voice.

Ellie's hands went to his chest. " _Here_?"

Thranduil pulled back, looking around at the weapons and armors surrounding them.

"You're right. Not here."

He took her hand and pulled her to the floor length window and stepped out first. Ellie followed him, scaling the roots that were the walls of Greenwood, to wherever Thranduil wanted to take her. Every moment with him was an adventure. Thranduil stopped when they reached a terrace, right under a clearing through the canopy, showing a clear view of the starry night. Ellie was enchanted by the stars, and he with her.

"Beautiful." She exhaled.

"Yes." Thranduil agreed, looking at her.

Eluriel turned to find him watching her, and she extended a hand for him to take. Thranduil took her hand and walked closer to her, till she had no space but to put her hands on his chest. He rested his head against hers, looking into her eyes. His mouth leaned in, his eyes asking permission every second, and she let him.

Their first kiss was a gentle touch, a ghost press of his lips against hers. Then she tugged at his collar and he walked closer, his nearness taking her breath away. She opened her mouth to gasp, allowing him to really kiss her. His hands went to her hair and her waist, holding her impossibly close to him as their lips never let go, lost in their own world.

King Oropher was just about ready to turn in for the night before he realized he hadn't his son for a while. He went up to his pedestal and stood watching the feast happen as people slowly retired for the night. Captain Fenrir came just below him, standing erect with his arms locked behind him, his eyes scanning the party.

"Have you seen my son, Fen?" Oropher asked.

"No, your majesty. But then, have you seen lady Eluriel?"

Oropher suddenly tilted back, realization hitting him.

"Thranduil and Eluriel?" He said out loud then went silent again.

"I suppose you've known about this?"

"They haven't confirmed it, but I suppose it was only a matter of time. They are the best there is. They're usually exclusively in each other's company."

"But she's a guard!"

"Indeed, your majesty. And one of the best ones I've seen. Do you really think your son would be happy with a courtly housewife?"

"Well I suppose..."

While he took the time considering his son's personality, he was called upon by Eluriel's family. They bowed to him, thanking him for the feast and wishing his family good health.

"My dear," Oropher called to Ellie's mother as he walked down his throne, "allow me to walk you to your home." He offered her his arm which she took, and he walked her home, talking to her about the possibility of their children being betrothed. The mother felt honored that the Royal family had chosen her daughter, but the king asked her to be silent until the two came forward.

For months Thranduil and Eluriel snuck behind their families, meeting each other in secret. They rode together into the forest, often racing each other, and would surprise one another by hidden picnics. They kissed often but never more, not that Thranduil could help himself. Once during a picnic by the waterfall, he made her close her eyes and whispered to her all the ways he would touch her, with his hands, with his lips. Ellie would wake up and shut him with kisses, keeping him from saying more. The longer they courted, the more impatient they became to be betrothed.

It happened when Mereth Nuin Gilliath came around. The Feast Of Starlights was an important gathering for the Greenwood elves, and everyone dressed in their finest apparel. King Oropher planned to announce his son's engagement that night, and personally saw to the preparations. He sent a dress for Eluriel, blue and silver, a counterpart of his son's attire for the night. Ellie's mother gave her extra attention that night, helping her dress up with the family jewels and setting her hair.

When the royal duo stepped out to begin the festivities, Thranduil was shocked to see Eluriel wearing clothes similar to his. It was the first thing Ellie noticed when king Oropher and Prince Thranduil came up to their platform. Thranduil and Eluriel shared an incredulous look. Guess the secret was out. The crowd started murmuring before Oropher had a chance to make a speech. The royal crier stomped his staff and silenced the gathering.

Oropher began with praising the stars for the feast of starlight, then segued into kind words for his son. He then mentioned Eluriel, and held his hand out to her, inviting her up. Ellie stood by his side while he said words in her praise, and after long last announced the engagement of Thranduil and Eluriel. The crowd burst in to cheer for the new couple. Thranduil lead Ellie into the first dance, and the two couldn't be happier to finally show off their love.

They stuck to each other for most of the night, accepting congratulations from people here and there. King Oropher asked Eluriel to a dance, using the opportunity to finally speak with her heart to heart. He told her of his insecurities and misconceptions, but gave his permission for Ellie to be by his son's side, whether in court or in battle. Eluriel did her best to ensure her future father in law that she loved his son, and would honor all her upcoming responsibilities to the best of her abilities.

And she did honor her responsibilities well. With her engagement to the crown prince, Eluriel was the only elleth in the royal family, and thus the face of royalty. She took time off patrol to attend "princess school", taking more responsibilities from the king. She took charge of the homely matter of the royal family, amazing her father in law at the dinner table with her choice of menu while she stoned up to listen to his political chatter. She sometimes got the chance to squeeze in matters that needed to be addressed, with her experience as the guard and common life, and offered her suggestions, which Oropher considered.

The young royal couple did everything together, from going on patrol, to political delegations. When the next trip to Rivendell came, Eluriel went with Thranduil. It was the engagement of Lord Elrond to the daughter of Galadriel, Celebrian. Imladris enchanted Eluriel with its breathtaking landscapes and the waterfalls and the fauna. The forests sung to them as the crossed the bridge to the homely home.

The halls were set beautifully decorated for the engagement party, enhancing its natural magnificence. Thranduil and Ellie were given separate but adjoining rooms, accompanied by their royal lords and ladies in waiting. The party wasn't till the next day, giving them the chance to rest and bathe. Thranduil and Ellie had dinner together, and he told her about his friendship with Elrond.

The next morning was announced with fanfare, waking everyone up with glad tidings of Elrond and Celebrian's engagement. Breakfast was quick and light and the rest of the morning was spent in preparation of the party that evening. Thranduil and Ellie went for a stroll, discussing how they would celebrate their own union. The two coordinated their attires for the party, and chose matching gifts to give to the engaged couple.

Thranduil and Ellie stood along the other royals as a toast was made for Elrond and Celebrian. The two exchanged rings and a quick kiss before they walked around to get the blessings of their elders. Elrond gave a side glance towards his friend, and Thranduil nodded to him in acknowledgment. It took a minute for them to come over to the Sindarin couple.

"Many congratulations from Greenwood, my friend."

"Thank you, my friend. I am glad you could show your face around."

"I apologize for my father's absence, but he'll attend the wedding for sure."

"Ah, what care I for the absence of old men when my friends are with me? Let me introduce you to my fiancée, Celebrian."

Thranduil took her hand for a kiss as the blushing bride curtseyed.

"Celebrian. Daughter of Galadriel."

"Here's to hoping I am able to break out of that shadow."

"Don't I know it. My fiancée, Eluriel." Thranduil introduced.

The future brides exchanged hugs and kisses as they congratulated each other.

"Tonight, if you have nothing else planned, I'd like you two to join us. Nothing formal, just old friends catching up."

Thranduil agreed and that was all the interaction the two couple had till they managed to get together for a late night hangout. They sat in Elrond's private quarters, the room to themselves. The princes sat up on chairs talking of whatever interested them, while their fiancées sat by the fire, getting to know each other as well as their husbands did. Eluriel and and Celebrian found they were both fond of music and offered to entertain the princes. Celebrian set an enchanting beat with a guqin- a string instrument- while Eluriel played a lulling tune on a flute. The concert earned high accolades from their fiancés, and it wasn't long after that the two couples retired for the night.

"I didn't know you could play the flute." Thranduil said as they walked back to their rooms.

"You suppose you know everything about me?" Ellie teased him.

"Shouldn't I? We are to be married soon."

"Even husbands and wives have their secrets sometimes. Like today, you found out I like music." They stopped by an open terrace, in front of the breeze. "I'm rather fond of singing."

"My little thrush." Thranduil cupped her face stroked her neck.

"Any hidden talent of yours I don't know about?" Eluriel asked as they continued walking.

"You'll laugh."

"Never."

"I like making food. I used to watch my naneth in the kitchen. She was an artist with her knives."

Eluriel smacked his shoulder.

"Well I suppose you're good with your blades. But I think you'd be better off with a kitchen knife!" Ellie repeated to Thranduil the first words he'd ever spoken to her.

They stopped at the doors to their rooms, delaying their separation.

"I am sorry for ever insulting you." Thranduil took her hands. "I was a foolish ellon then. Forgive me."

Ellie cupped his face. "You've grown up. There's nothing to forgive. If we hadn't argued then we wouldn't be here in love today."

Thranduil grabbed her face as well.

"You do love me, don't you, Luri?"

"As sure as my soul burns within me."

"Never leave me."

"Oh, we'll always be together Thranduil. Forever."


	15. Choices

(Present)

Eluriel paced in her rooms waiting for Fenrir to bring her her clothes. She was almost ready to attack when a knock came on the door. Ella wrapped the robe around herself and went to open the door. The old man smiled at her before curtsying.

"My queen."

"My friend. Do not lower yourself before me."

Fenrir rose and Ella lead him in, taking the new clothes from him. She took the clothes behind the partition to change.

"You knew who I was back in Arendale."

"I did, indeed."

"And you didn't find it necessary to tell me?"

"Well, naturally, people don't come back from death. I couldn't know for sure, or what effect it might have on your head, to tell you."

"So you were looking out for me?"

"As always and till forever."

Eluriel stepped out from behind the curtains, dressed fit for a queen. She smiled at Fenrir for his last comment and finally hugged him now that she was dressed.

"I have missed you, my daughter. We all have. His majesty has become a changed man since you left. And Prince-"

"Legolas? Tell me about him, Fen. My mother's heart cries for not getting to watch him grow."

"Well, Thranduil tried what he thought was the best way to keep Legolas sane. After your memorial, his majesty sent the prince to live in Rivendell. Thranduil was a raging mess after losing you. He couldn't let Legolas see him become so unraveled."

"My poor boys." Eluriel whispered to herself.

"After the first anniversary, Thranduil had all your mementos locked away. He put everything that reminded him of you in your ancestral rooms and had the hallway sealed."

"How dare he take me away from my son?!" Ellie yelled at the injustice.

"Prince Legolas held on to you for as long as he could remember you. Thranduil never told him of what happened in the north. Every day Legolas asked for you; where you had gone and when you would come back. Thranduil never answered him. The king spoke to no one those days. Lord Elrond stayed as long as he could, and when he went back to Rivendell, he took Legolas with him."

"Leggy always loved that place. To play with Elladan and Elrohir."

"And he stayed there practically forever. The king never called him back home. It was always Elrond who would make the initiative, bringing Legolas back for important events. But lord Elrond saw that Thranduil was too depressed to care for a child, so he took in your son as a ward. He only brought Legolas back often enough to remind Thranduil he had something to live for. It took his majesty years to recompose himself, but by then he'd already lost his son."

Eluriel cried, listening to the devastating affect of her death on her family. Oh why couldn't she have risen earlier? Kept them together?

"Where is Legolas now, Fenrir?" Ella asked desperately, dying to meet her son.

"He is in court with the king. Legolas captured one of the orcs who was chasing the dwarves."

Fenrir gave her a recount of what had happened, and her heart feared for her friends. This war was escalating quickly, and she had to get the elves involved.

Thanking her old captain, Ella ran out the door, running to her son. She had almost reached the court when instead she heard a door close from Legolas's hallways.

"What of Tauriel?" The guard told him and Legolas feared the worst.

The king had ordered the doors closed and once they shut, they wouldn't open until Thranduil himself came down and opened them.

Legolas stormed to his rooms, his mind aflame with indecision. He had more loyalty to Tauriel than he did to his own father, but being a subject of the king was something else entirely. Going against the king's orders was treason.

Legolas had made friends with Tauriel all the way back when he waited for his nana to come back. She had been waiting for her ada to come back as well. The two bonded over their loss, and were often found in each other's company whenever Legolas came back from Rivendell. Once he stayed for good, their friendship strengthened, and for him, it even developed into something more.

"How does our happiness endure?" He asked himself aloud as he paced the floor.

His voice had been barely above a whisper, but any nearby elf could have heard it.

And she did.

"How does a moment last forever?  
How does our happiness endure?"

A singing voice hits the prince's elf ears and his heart stops. It was only _his_ song. His and his... mother's.

Legolas froze, listening to the song, and just as he decided to run out the door, he turned to see the prisoner girl walk in; now tall and her hair blonde, a picture of his mother. But she couldn't be! It wasn't possible!

Legolas denied to accept that the woman in front of him could be his naneth, but she continued to defy him and kept singing their song.

"Love pays no mind to desolation  
It flows like a river through the soul."

The elleth drew her fingers gently over his cheeks, cupping his face, and Legolas closed his eyes, damming the flood of tears welling behind his eyes.

"Protects, persists, and perseveres  
And makes us whole"

Tears fell down his face and on to her fingers and Legolas cried for his mother.

"Nana..." he whispered and Ellie's voice cracked.

"My little leaf!"

Legolas opened his eyes, the tears fled down his cheeks in waterfalls, and he saw his nana in front of him, crying and smiling.

"Naneth! How... how are you here!? You're here?!" He searched for words and wrapped her in a hug, not planning to let go.

Eluriel put her hand on his head, pressing his face into her neck. By the gods! The last time she hugged him, he was barely above her waist, and now here he was almost a head taller. She wished that holding her son would return to her her lost time, but when he finally pulled himself away, he was still tall.

"How are you here?" Legolas sniffled, trying to compose himself.

"I'm not sure," she said truthfully as she went to sit on the bed. "I'm afraid it's not something good that brings me back."

Legolas grabbed his mother's arms and turned her around, fearing she would leave him again.

"But you _are_ back now, aren't you!? You won't leave again?!" Legolas pleaded.

Ellie chuckled and caressed her son.

"Not even death could keep me from you, my heartbeat."

Legolas let go of Ellie and flopped down on the bed.

Ellie sat down next to him and strummed her fingers through his scalp, soothing him.

"Maybe some moments weren't so perfect.  
Maybe some memories not so sweet  
But we have to know some bad times"

"Or our lives are incomplete" Legolas began to sing along.

"Then when the shadows overtake us  
Just when we fee all hope is gone!  
We'll hear our song and know once more  
Our loves live on!"

Legolas cuddled his head into his mother's neck as if he were a child once more.

"What's her name?" Eluriel asked him as she felt his tension still lingering.

Legolas thought to lie, but considered it not worth it.

"Tauriel."

"The captain of the guards!"

"Yes." He lift his head remembering where Tauriel possibly was this moment.

"Nana, she is out _there_ somewhere. Fighting _their_ fight!" He accusingly thrust a finger in the direction of the door.

"Does it have to matter for you to be by her side?" Ellie calmly asked him as she stroked his cheek. "If you loved her, then it would matter not if she were fighting for Dol Guldur."

Legolas jumped off the bed, his mind racing with his father's lectures on what evils scoured past their realm.

Ellie sighed and stood up with her son.

"This is not _their_ fight. It is the same fight that took me from my family. The only _us_ and _them_ are the good and the evil. And the only evil in this world is... Sauron."

Legolas's eyes flashed in fear. It was a name his parents used to tell to scare him. The master of all evil. But as a soldier, and one of the best that Greenwood had ever seen, his soul burned for adventure.

"Go to her, Legolas. The war is yet to come. She will need her partner by her side."

"But Ada..."

"I will bring Thranduil will the full force of the Greenwood army. Now go! Represent the elves!" Ellie cupped her son's face and Legolas took her hand and kissed it, then hugged her and ran out.

As Legolas went to his armory, Eluriel returned to her room, where Thranduil was waiting.

"I imagine you've met Legolas?" He asked as he sat pouring a wine for breakfast.

"I have. I can't stand that I missed his childhood!" Eluriel motherly complained.

Thranduil looked away from her, her words hitting him. Ellie had death take her son away from her, but he? He drove his own son away.

"I'll send for him, he can join us for breakfast here. We'll dine like a family once more."

The king nodded to a guard in the room to go fetch the prince, but the queen stopped him.

"You won't find him. He's gone after Tauriel."

All joy left Thranduil.

"You will bring him back," he ordered the guard, but the ellon didn't budge, looking between the king and queen.

"No, we will join him. He will need your armies behind him."

"The kingdom is under quarantine!" Thranduil slammed off his chair. "Nothing enters, and nothing leaves."

"Well your son's already gone! He is your son after all. He will not settle for anything less than adventure. And if the world _is_ as dangerous as you say it is, will you leave your son out there alone? He _will_ join the battle whether you like it or not."

"This war is not ours to fight!" Thranduil argued.

"Not ours to fight?!" Ellie went around him to look him in the eye. "It is ALL our fight! It is the same fight that took me from you! You will not attack the spider's nests just because it's outside your realm!"

"The last time I fought outside of Greenwood!" Thranduil yelled, but softened when he remembered why he never left his realm, "The last time I fought outside of Greenwood, I lost you."

"It's not Greenwood anymore!" Eluriel fanned her arms around to show him which place she meant. "Nobody calls it Greenwood anymore! It is Mirkwood. Your homeland is dying! And you will not defend it?" She screamed at him, trying to change his mind.

"Will you not follow your son?" Ellie asked softly, reminding him of their son out there.

When Thranduil didn't move, she left him.

"If you will not, I will."

"Not a step out of this room, Eluriel." Thranduil said in a commanding tone, and the guard listened better than the queen did.

With an apologetic look on his face, the young elf blocked her way.

"Thranduil, let me out." She turned back to face him.

"You convinced me once, and I lost you. It won't happen again." Thranduil marched forward and past her, ordering the guard to keep her inside as he left the room himself.

Almost a day later, and Thranduil sat in his office, half listening to his war lords suggesting plans. He was thinking of his wife, locked in their room. And his son, a chip off the old block, out there in the world fighting someone else's battle. Thranduil cursed himself.

Once he was the best soldier of the biggest army on Arda. He'd fought in the last alliance, won where his father had lost. He'd fought dragons and other evil creatures in the north. And here he sat cocooned up in his kingdom. When had he become a coward?

"Prepare the army. Ready my elk. We leave at dawn." Thranduil rose off his seat and ordered his generals.

Everyone around him scrambled to ready for war. He grabbed a guard and sent him to his rooms.

"Tell the queen to get ready for battle. We leave at first light."

The guard came back as Thranduil was putting on his armor.

"She's already gone, my lord."

Thranduil smiled to himself.

 _That's my girl._


	16. Sides

Bilbo and the dwarves had reached the end of the river, having been chased by raging waves and Orcs.

"Make for the shore!" Thorin commanded as he lead. "Come on, let's go!"

They all heaved and crawled out of their barrels and onto the riverbank, weighed down by water, but only one of them fell.

Kili groaned in pain as he pressed a cloth on his bleeding thigh. Bofur looked more concerned than Kili was.

"I'm fine. It's nothing." He attempted to sound stronger.

By then, his brother was next to him, examining his wound. His uncle seemed less concerned.

"There's an Orc pack behind us. We keep moving."

"To where?" Balin hopelessly asked.

"To the mountain," Bilbo hopefully reminded them, "we're so close!"

"A _lake_ lies between us and that mountain. We have no way to cross it."

"So then we go around."

"The Orcs will run us down, sure as daylight." Dwalin argued, "We've no weapons to defend ourselves."

Thorin listened to all the arguments.

"Bind his leg, quickly. You have two minutes."

While Balin and Oin bound Kili's leg, others sat about waiting for Thorin's next command. Ori sat by the river, tipping over his boot to drain out water. Suddenly, he caught the eerie feeling that someone was watching him, and his worry soon spread to the others. The company jumped, seeing the bowman standing atop the hill. Dwalin leapt in front of Ori, holding a branch as a weapon, but the bowman expertly shot it right between Dwalin's hands. He shot down Kili's weapon too and pointed the next arrow at the dwarf's head.

"Do it again, and you're dead."

Among the chaos, Balin had spotted a barge floating in the river behind the man.

"Excuse me, but you're from Lake-town, if I'm not mistaken. That barge over there, it wouldn't be available for hire, by any chance?"

As the old dwarf bargained, the man eyed him curiously.

"What makes you think I'll help you?"

Eventually, Balin had convinced the lake man to smuggle them into Lake town, offering him money.

The bargemen, Bard as a Bilbo learned, rowed them through the foggy lake, having more confidence in his boating than the dwarves did. Balin asked the company to give up their coins to pay Bard. Fili ignorantly tossed his pouch over, distracted by his own personal turmoil.

"I have been bled dry by this venture!"

As Gloin complained about his misfortunes, the others caught sight of their goal through the fog. Gloin joined the others as they all rose in the majesty of the Lonely Mountain.

"The money, quick, give it to me!" Bard hastily interrupted their moment.

"We'll pay you when we get our provisions, but not before." Thorin grumbled.

"If you value your freedom, you'll do as I say."

The company did as Bard told. They went into the barrels again, this time with the company of dead fish. They were almost exposed by someone named Alfrid, but the conniving bargemen got them past the gates, and up his toilets.

As the dwarves sat about the house wrapped in blankets, Thorin looked out the window, catching side of the past. Fili too was thinking of old times, but his memories are much more recent. _Oh how foolish he'd been_ , _falling for someone he just met. And for worse, she'd turned out to be an elf!_

Bilbo noticed the blonde dwarf cursing himself, and went over to comfort him.

"She never meant to betray you, Fili. She saved your life for heaven's sake!"

"Yeah? It would've hurt less if she'd left me for dead."

"She couldn't! Ella cared for you, Fili. Perhaps if circumstances had been different-"

Fili jumped up.

"If circumstances were different, we'd still be up in that mountain, never having crossed paths with her!"

The whole house turned to look at Fili at his outburst. Lucky for him, Bard had gone out. Thorin took pity on his nephew and went to him.

"We will raid the armory tonight and be on our way soon enough, my boy." He reassuringly squeezed Fili's shoulder. "The prince of Erebor will have so many beauties at his feet, you'll soon forget her."

Fili grabbed his uncle's arm in understanding.

"When do we leave?"

They left that night, Bard's son unable to stop them. Thorin lead them to the armory, hiding from the watchmen on the way. Once there, Thorin made the mistake of trusting Kili, and his wounded leg got them apprehended and marched to the town square.

The town master accused them of being enemies of the state, which didn't sit well with Dwalin. In his anger, he exposed Thorin for what he was: king under the mountain. Thorin rallied the townsfolk, promising a return of the prosperous old days, but was suddenly countered by Bard, who had learned of the prophecy concerning Thorin's return. But Thorin's promise turned the crowd against Bard, who was previously hailed as the savior of the common folk.

Convinced and greedy for the mountain's wealth, the town master accepted Thorin's deal and the next morning sent most of the company on their way, decked in armor and weapons. Fili and Oin stayed behind with a sickening Kili, and Bofur had missed the boat. Carrying a fallen Kili, the rest took him to the master for help, but the man's hospitality had run out.

By luck, Bard, however offended by Thorin's insults, took pity and let them in once again. They laid Kili on a table, Oin trying to keep the infection away. Bard offered them all the herbs he had, but he didn't have the one they needed. The pigs did. Bofur went looking for kingsfoil, and Bard took his son to get the wind lance, the only weapon to kill the dragon.

The others waited for the two to return, as they had not returned by nightfall. Bard's elder daughter, Sigrid, went looking for him, but only found an orc. She screamed as it forced its way into the house, other orcs finding entry through the roof. The house soon became overrun with orcs, and the dwarves threw anything their hands could reach while the kids hid under the table. The mortals were defenseless against the creatures, when suddenly, two elves jumped in, fending off the orcs with expert swordsmanship.

Legolas chased the orcs outside while Tauriel slay the monsters inside. He saw the orcs leaving and went back to get Tauriel, but she chose to stay with the dwarves. Legolas read into the situation and heartbroken, left to chase the orcs himself. The prince elf reached the docks and began killing all the orcs that crossed his path, catching the attention of their master, Bolg.

Legolas found the scarfaced Orc standing on the other side of a long alley, and the two glared at each other. Out of arrows, Legolas unsheathed Thorin's sword from his belt, swaying it as he advanced towards his enemy. Midway, he got ambushed by two other orcs, but their attacks were blocked by another sword. Legolas whipped back to avoid being hit, more stunned to find his mother triumphantly smiling at him.

She nodded towards the master Orc.

"You can handle one, can't you?" Eluriel teased, and Legolas scoffed at her before he charged at Bolg again.

The orc and the elf locked in a feisty battle, until Bolg caught Legolas's sword and sent him back into a pillar. The monster was about to kick him when Legolas caught its leg and knocked it off balance. Legolas grabbed the Orc's head and repeatedly bashed it into a post, then threw the creature against a wall. Bolg bounced off the wall and caught Legolas in a crushing embrace. The prince was almost fainted until the queen slashed the creature's back, making it release her son. As the master Orc wailed in pain, more orcs jumped in, distracting the elves in a fight as Bolg got away.

The mother and son duo expertly killed the orcs, then finally had a chance to embrace. Legolas leaned against a wall, breathless, then was startled as he felt something trickle down his nose. He touched his lip and saw fluid on his hands, shocked by seeing his own blood. Elves didn't bleed easy.

Eluriel too saw her son bleed and rushed over, motherly fussing over Legolas's nosebleed.

"Let me..."

"Nana! Stop!"

"Hold still, just..."

"Nana!" Legolas determinedly called out and Eluriel finally stepped back.

"I'm not a little ellon anymore," he defended himself.

Eluriel sadly smiled and brushed his hair back.

"Of course you're not! But you'll always be my little leaf."

The elves touched heads in embrace, only to have their moment interrupted by the howls of wargs. Legolas almost dashed after them, not yet having let go of Eluriel, but suddenly stopped. He turned back to look at his mother.

"Go after them. I'll join you soon."

Legolas nodded to his mother and obeyed. Eluriel turned back towards the house, collecting Legolas's arrows on her way back. This would be the first time she would see her friends since the dungeon, she didn't know how they would react. How _he_ would react.

When Eluriel entered the home, she saw Kili lying on the table, a basket of walnuts under his head. Tauriel was standing over him and when she saw her, quickly curtseyed. Eluriel shook her head as she came over to Kili.

"How are you feeling now?" She gently asked him.

"She tells me I'll live. Did you find what you were looking for?"

"I think I did. I hope it didn't cost me our friendship."

"Never."

A noise from the kitchen distracted them and Ellie turned to see Bofur watching her. She clasped hands with Kili one last time and left him with Tauriel.

"I saw the elf bow to you."

"Turns out I'm the Queen." She pointed to the diadem on her head. "Where are the others?"

"Thorin took most of them up the mountain, Oin's making ointment for Kili."

"I see."

"Fili's out the back."

Ellie locked eyes with the dwarf, and the look on his face told her he knew. She smiled at him and went out.

She saw him playing with the girls, entertaining the young one with simple tricks. The older one saw her first and her sister followed suit.

"Are you a princess?" The little one asked.

Eluriel kindly smiled at her.

"It takes one to see one," Ellie returned the compliment and curtseyed. She turned to Fili, but the dwarf looked away.

The older girl read the tension between them and lead her sister inside. Ellie smiled at them as they went past her.

"Fili..." she started once the girls were gone.

"Why are you here? To see if we're dead?" He accused, without turning to face her.

"Can I not be here to see if you're alive?"

"What does my life mean to you!"

"Everything!" Ellie defended, tears in her eyes. "Can we not be friends? Have dwarves really such hate for-"

"It is _not_ about dwarves and elves!" Fili finally turned to face her, teary eyed. "It was about you... and me."

"I know!" Eluriel cried. "Believe me, had I forever been the Ella you knew, I would have been yours till the end of time."

Fili let his tears fall.

"But I'm Eluriel! Thranduil is my heart, and Legolas my soul. Will you punish me for that?"

"You punish _me."_ Fili turned away again, gripping the rails tightly to contain his sobs.

"I am... _so_ sorry, Fili. I know you love me, and Ella loved you too. I hope you can find her again."

"You should go."

"Not if we don't part as friends."

Fili looked to the sky to find his strength, then turned back around.

"We elves leave our friends with gifts. You gave me a riding cloak once. I want you to have this."

Ellie took off a smaller blade from her belt and knelt to present it to Fili. It was small for her, but a good fit for a dwarf. Made of elvish crafting, he couldn't find a better weapon.

Fili hesitated to take it, but Ellie didn't get up until he sighed and lifted it off her hands.

"You'll need it soon. Prophetic times are upon us."

Fili tried to find the Lonely Mountain in the distance.

"What will you do?" Fili asked her.

"I'm the elven queen. The armies of Greenwood will rally behind the king under the mountain. You?"

"I'll stand with my brother, and my uncle."

"Speaking of family, I should go find mine."

"Goodbye, Eluriel."

"I'll see you soon."


End file.
